Friday, June 26, 2009

Well this is awkward. . . .

Girls' Knight Out

Art

Story

27 comments:

A Nonny Mouse said...

Is the comment in today's Ding about Odysseus and Polyphemus (which is hardly what I would call a battle) a snide joke about the bartender having also had an eye put out, possibly while drunk? I can't believe PVP is now stooping to eyeism.

rdy said...

Re: Advisory Roll - I think I prefer Penny Arcade's take on dealing with problem players from last Monday...

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/6/22/

A Nonny Mouse said...

That was pathetic. "There are these things called Mind Flayers and their name has the word mind and the word flayer" is not a very good joke at all.

PVP's was bland too. The three panels preceding the punchline did contain good advice though.

Chris Dunning said...

I'm sorry, Mouse, anyone who doesn't get the funny from the PA strip rdy posted is missing something. It's a combination it's an art gag more then anything else, not so much a word gag. Although, in the character's voices I find that chuckle-worthy too. Besides, everyone knows that Tycho and Gabe aren't punch-line guys. It's the interaction between the characters and the pacing of the strip that they're known for. The funny is as much the:

-Like the iron chef?
-Not now.
-Sorry.

as it is the last panel.

Oh, and I really enjoyed the PVP for the 30th. Reminds me of some of my own RPing days.

A Nonny Mouse said...

I can't decide what you intended to write when you ended up with "it's a combination it's an art gag," but if you're referring to the procession of their facial expressions that gets a thumbs down from me too. Boring.

I very much doubt I'm missing anything, and I'm sure "it's the interaction between the characters and the pacing of the strip that they're known for" is the sort of defence that a lot of people would make for many PVP strips so, you know, I just happen to not like that strip. I suppose, given your perspective, you could say it's like something from an episode of Friends where they happen to be talking about D&D and somebody says a naughty word. I don't like Friends.

Maybe I should also point out that I consider about a third of Penny Arcade strips to consist of tepid humour, but that when it's good it's very good so I don't regret reading it.

Dajagr said...

Obviously, I'm "missing something," then, Chris. Penny Arcade has always baffled me. There was only one strip I've ever read that so much as made me crack a smile, and I don't even remember which one that was. YMMV, of course, but to me, the jokes aren't funny, the characters aren't interesting or likable, and the topics don't grab me or feel relevant to me in any way. I've never understood the popularity the strip has, and I probably never will. Not everyone's going to like every webcomic... As for me, I think PvP is light-years ahead of PA.

TheOriginalJes said...

A Little Applause - The only thing I don't like about this arc is that it took this long for Scott to reveal that they are running this campaign at the PVP office.

Unless Cole is visiting for the evening. In which case, I'm still not sure why he's even there other than deus ex machina. (A mechanism which always annoys the crap out of me. But, that's personal.)

Miranda's punchline almost had me literally shouting out loud with laughter (my favorite character to play is a gnome). Which wouldn't have been good, since I'm at work. It's almost equivalent to milk out the nose.

Sam's eyes could still use some work. But, I don't like her anyway; so, I'll try to deal...

Chris Dunning said...

I dunno, maybe I enjoy PA on a regular basis because my mind operates in a similarly twisted fashion to Mike and Jerry. Perhaps I made the mistake of thinking that everyone thinks like me (a mistake many here seem to make on a regular basis).

Chris Dunning said...

Also, I meant to edit out the "its a combination part" I typed it and then reworded it without removing it... It was pretty late when I posted it.

Jai said...

Isn't Jade's friend Sam taller than Jade? She should tower over Cole -- although my mind appreciates being able to trick me into thinking that Kurtz is switching up the static camera angles in every panel, as opposed to merely positioning the characters incorrectly. Which is what I'm pretty sure is actually happening.

Very funny strip! This week is definitely making up for the weak plot exposition from last week (Which definitely works somewhat better now that I know the "story" wasn't intended to end there).

And a Tekken character is going to be able to use PA's Cardboard Tube Samurai costume (Judging by the PVP ad)? Very cool... for the PA guys. And Tekken fans. Which I'm not... but I do think those guys deserve their success. They can't stop themselves from expanding from (Yet never abandoning) odd humor, violent humor and visual humor to interesting story-telling and/or just fantastically visually-appealling artwork, plus they set up their own videogame expo and Child's Play, plus they dabble in making their own games, plus... well, damn, there's just nothing about what they try to do that I don't enjoy. They can run back and forth between nonsensical bullshit and intensely passionate truths all day long as far as I care. I wish more people of that caliber had that same strange kind of attention-deficit disorder.

R.W.McGee said...

I just spent about 10 minutes trying to figure out how to craft some sort of defense of PA in lieu of your comment, Djagir...but I can't do it.

It's as if somebody walked up to me and told me that the Joel Schumacher(sp?) movie 'Batman and Robin' is better than 'The Dark Knight.' It's just a ridiculous statement.

I mean, where to begin the argument? Penny Arcade has better art, which has evolved organically over the years. You can hear Scott Kurtz admit as much in several podcasts (recently his own art has begun to mature as well). The writing in Penny-Arcade is consistently superior, which is a result both of having somebody DEDICATED to the word-smithing, to having a partnership where they can bounce ideas off of each other, and because they generally eschew continuity in favor of one-offs which are generally more in their wheel-house.

Even the characters are deeper, which is strange because they are basically intended as caricatures.

I could go on and on, but why bother. If you honestly believe that PVP is a superior product to Penny-Arcade than I can't help you.

(you're wrong, though.)

Dajagr said...

Heh. Well, for me, saying something is better than PA boils down to "damning with faint praise," anyway. I just can't stand PA. :) (Now to find some other sacred cows to kill, muahahaha...)

rdy said...

@R.W.McGee - "and because they generally eschew continuity in favor of one-offs which are generally more in their wheel-house."

Yeah, but I think in a way they have to work harder on their strips because of this. They can't rely on a story arc to prop up a couple of weak strips or get away with just an end-of-the-week pay-off so each strip has to deliver in itself. Reading both PvP and Penny Arcade, PA is the one I actually go to expecting it to make me laugh.

The artwork is outstanding at times, with even throw-away backgrounds getting more detail than you'd see in a week of PvPs. The two strips are on completely different levels really.

TheOriginalJes said...

quoting Jai -

-"Isn't Jade's friend Sam taller than Jade? She should tower over Cole -- although my mind appreciates being able to trick me into thinking that Kurtz is switching up the static camera angles in every panel, as opposed to merely positioning the characters incorrectly. Which is what I'm pretty sure is actually happening."-

Actually, Scott's been pretty consistent with using POV for the past couple of years. With a few copy/paste exceptions here and there. By default, the closer character would be the bigger character.

Jai said...

I was referring to the second panel, not the first.

fandangamo said...

I'm A Doctor, Not A Veterinarian:

Great strip, I laughed.

That is all.

rdy said...

@fandangamo - I'm having trouble telling what the joke is.

TheOriginalJes said...

It seems to me that all the panels are done from a chest-height roving POV. And in the second panel, Cole would be just a little closer to the "camera", as if Sam is off to his left.

TheOriginalJes said...

@ rdy - joke (to me) is:

{'Freddy vs. Jason', 'AvP'} + {most Trekkers and SW fans prefer one over the other, and would hate to see them mixed} + {basic technological superiority of Star Trek vs. The Force} + {wouldn't Kirk's UT translate Wookie?}

rdy said...

@TheOriginalJes: Is that a joke, though? To be honest, I think I'd find a joke based on your comment - Star Trek's UT translating Chewie's growls and finding he actually has a rather urbane turn of phrase - a bit more entertaining.

The original 'mash-ups of pop culture suck' doesn't seem to be much of a joke or even just a funny situation to me. Even if the strip was just a dig a Hollywood's nature, it's kind of like a stand-up comedian doing airline-food material.

A Nonny Mouse said...

Regarding the most recent PVP...

...

TheOriginalJes said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
TheOriginalJes said...

@ rdy - I guess we'll just have to chalk it up to different tastes, then.

Farrah And Away - (I have no wish to start something, here. This is just something that stuck to me.)

I have no real comment about today's strip. Only because the very first thing I noticed was the comic notes.

-"Today’s comic strip was inspired by suggestions given during our live broadcast. Big thanks to all the PvP readers who participated in this group effort. It was fun guys, let’s do it again soon!"-

If it hadn't been published by a guy who claims that his fans and non-web-comic artists have no impact or influence on his work; then it probably wouldn't have made me completely incapable of caring about this homage.

Jai said...

I'm A Doctor, Not A Veterinarian:
My problem with this strip is that the panels simply do not mesh well. What do I mean? Well, in panel 1 we see Brent complaining about movies being remade. In panel 2, he starts talking about mash-up movies -- this has NOTHING to do with movies being remade. I have never seen a mash-up of two movies that remade either movie, let alone both. There has never been such a movie, let alone so many that Brent is right to be concerned about this ruining the original movies for future generations. In panel 3, we're no longer trying to see what would be bad about a Star Trek + Star Wars mashup and why it should be avoided... we're supposed to be envisioning it as an opportunity for hilarity. And, yes, I would argue that those two opinions cannot co-exist. Panel 4 flows just fine from panel 3, no problem there. But do you get what I mean? It's a strip about three separate ideas that only superficially have anything to do with each other.

And the nerd in me wants to add that the punchline doesn't really work (Nor would it need Kirk) because Han helps destroy the Death Star will all hands aboard... and there IS a "stun" setting in Star Wars. It's used just once, on Princess Leia near the beginning of Episode IV... and then never again (Theatrically), ever. It's a hilariously strange thing... but trying to make it a Star Trek joke (By proxy, I suppose) sucks all the "joke" right out of it. Those jokes are thirty years old, and the direction Kurtz is coming from with the gag is unclear (Would Han have a similar reaction in a similar, non-Trek situation? Is the Trek combination responsible for there being stun settings? Is the joke that Han, in a terrible future crossover redo of Star Wars, would no longer be the "Han shot first" badass we know him as?).

Considering it's supposed to be a nightmare scenario of what a future generation might have to endure, the strip should at least have done something funny with the actors chosen for the parts and how the movie ruins both franchises with new, strange setpieces and costumes. Original-accurate replicas of the three characters (And Death Star background) also don't mesh with Brent's thoughts in the previous panels.

Chris Dunning said...

Hahahahahahahah. I loved today's strip. Sure, it's a joke we've all seen a million times, but it made me laugh. And the art is quite good.

A Nonny Mouse said...

I dunno. I like slapstick a lot, but feel that decent slapstick needs the entire process and a good buildup. You can leave bits to the imagination, but summing it up with "I don't think a firecracker would hurt him much" and then imagining the effect if it did hurt him doesn't quite do it for me.

I also can't help thinking that they just need to put he firecracker down and light the fuse from a distance with a long stick or something. What type of person lets a lack of creativity get in the way of a good explosion?

TheOriginalJes said...

@ Jai

-"Is the joke that Han, in a terrible future crossover redo of Star Wars, would no longer be the "Han shot first" badass we know him as?)."-

Actually, Lucas already screwed that up for us in the re-release of Ep IV.

Thanks for reminding me about the stun setting in Ep IV. Now, I understand your ire.

-"I have never seen a mash-up of two movies that remade either movie, let alone both."-

One word...parodies. :) (And, I know you were accepting those as an obvious exclusion.) Although, I'm sure that if they ever re-make Masters Of The Universe, we'll have our example.

You've made a lot of good (and amusing) points.

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