I don't quite get today's "Questionable Content" strip

[tr0psn4j]

Originally Posted by kaylasdad99

What Little Nemo said.

PROTIP: Milholland puts the comic on hiatus near the end of the year, and even labels the last strip of the year as such. If you want to keep it manageable, just take a break (at least) every time you come across a comic that ends with "End of Year X"

That will be the end of 2002 (since the comic opens in December of 2001). Like this.

Wait, if that's Something Positive, then what the fuck was I reading?


Oh, Super Stupor. It wasn't that good. How the hell did I accidentally read the wrong comic though?

[jayjay]

Originally Posted by tr0psn4j

Wait, if that's Something Positive, then what the fuck was I reading?


Oh, Super Stupor. It wasn't that good. How the hell did I accidentally read the wrong comic though?

Randy Milholland writes and draws both of them, and they're usually posted on the S*P website. He actually has about 4 or 5 different comics he does, but S*P is the major one. The others are Super Stupor, SomethingPositive37 (a comic featuring the Something Positive main characters grandfather and relatives circa 1937), Midnight Macabre (about a guy who revives his favorite childhood Spooky Louie show (which features the father of one of the S*P characters, circa 1980), New Gold Dreams (a comic about a fantasy/RPG world) and an occasional one-panel called Rhymes With Witch.

He's definitely the most reliable updating the original Something Positive, though. The rest of them are pretty much side-projects and can range from semi-reliable updating to virtual hiatus (New Gold Dreams, f'rex, hasn't been updated at all in a couple of years that I know of).

[kaylasdad99]

He has several. All worth a read (well, except maybe New Gold Dreams, which consists of part of a setup for an adventure comic, but which he abandoned before it got anywhere).

Super Stupor is pretty much just a bunch of one-offs about a city with a crapload of super heroes and super villains. No actual story arc to speak of, but characters who appear repeatedly do retain whatever experiences they have.

"Rhymes with Witch" is all one-offs, but includes a recurring theme comic called "Life With Rippy," featuring an anthropomorphic razor blade who lives with the cartoonist.

There's also a black-and-white comic called "Something Positive 1937" (or some year such as that) that gives some backstory about Davan McIntyre's father and the family he came from.

Anyway, just start here, and just keep hitting "next comic." You'll stay on track.

[kaylasdad99]

Originally Posted by jayjay

(New Gold Dreams, f'rex, hasn't been updated at all in a couple of years that I know of).

August, 2005.

I really don't think it's coming back.

[Little Nemo]

Super Stupor is pretty much just a bunch of one-offs about a city with a crapload of super heroes and super villains. No actual story arc to speak of, but characters who appear repeatedly do retain whatever experiences they have.

Actually there is sort of a story arc but it's hard to see in the online comics. Milholland has published two Super Stupor comic books (and is preparing a third issue). These are longer stories that connect together some of the one-pagers that are online.

[jayjay]

Originally Posted by kaylasdad99

August, 2005.

I really don't think it's coming back.

Which is a shame. I liked it better than Super Stupor. The little lizard first mate has the potential to steal the strip.

[Clothahump]

Something Positive and Questionable Content are two of my top 5 webcomics that I must read daily. Queen of Wands was another, and I was sad to see it end (although I like that Kestrel crossed over and is now a character in S*P).

[BrotherCadfael]

Originally Posted by jayjay

Does she mean as "types" or does she actually know the people the characters are based on. (I assume you mean Something Positive, but I may be wrong)

Sorry. QC, and "as types".

[Maggie the Ocelot]

Okay...who is that in today's strip? Is that Sven? Because if so, that is some seriously un-Sven-like behavior...

[badbadrubberpiggy]

Originally Posted by Oni no Maggie

Okay...who is that in today's strip? Is that Sven? Because if so, that is some seriously un-Sven-like behavior...

Looks like Sven to me.

Maybe the start of a new story-line for Sven - he finally gets sick playing the field so much?

[Little Nemo]

Is that Sven? Because if so, that is some seriously un-Sven-like behavior...

Pretty sure it's Sven. But not necessarily acting out of character. He's always been able to pick up women with ease - enough so that he can afford to ignore an opportunity like this if he's not in the mood.

[Little Nemo]

Like I said, that Sven really does attract all the ladies.

[MsWhatsit]

Just thought I'd stop back in to say that thanks to this thread, I spent the past week reading all of the QC strips from the very beginning. I'm all caught up now, and feeling oddly depressed about it. Like, I have to wait a whole day for each new strip now?

[Little Nemo]

Wait until Fridays when you have to wait three days for the next strip.

[jayjay]

Originally Posted by Little Nemo

Wait until Fridays when you have to wait three days for the next strip.

Pffft. I'm a fan of Order of the Stick, Goblins and George R. R. Martin. Waiting three days for the next strip is nothing...

[Miller]

Originally Posted by Clothahump

Something Positive and Questionable Content are two of my top 5 webcomics that I must read daily. Queen of Wands was another, and I was sad to see it end (although I like that Kestrel crossed over and is now a character in S*P).

I don't know if you're already aware, but Aerie, the author behind Queen of Wands, is doing a spin-off strip focused on Angela, Kestrel's diminutive blond co-worker. Not as good as QoW, particularly since Aerie isn't doing the art, but worth a check.

Also, I got to meet Something Positive's Randy Milholland at WonderCon last month, and he was hands down the nicest guy I met at the con. And just about everyone I met was awesome.

Originally Posted by jayjay

Pffft. I'm a fan of Order of the Stick, Goblins and George R. R. Martin. Waiting three days for the next strip is nothing...

I prescribe an antidote of Howard "Ironman" Taylor's Schlock Mercenary. New strip. Every day. No exceptions. For ten years.

[jayjay]

Originally Posted by Miller

I don't know if you're already aware, but Aerie, the author behind Queen of Wands, is doing a spin-off strip focused on Angela, Kestrel's diminutive blond co-worker. Not as good as QoW, particularly since Aerie isn't doing the art, but worth a check.

Aeire. She was one of my LiveJournal friends before she even started QoW. I met her through Boy Meets Boy (I'd link, on the chance that you never read it, but it's three comics and roughly 10 years ago for the artist, and time has not been kind to the archivae)* fandom.

I'll check out Schlock Mercenary.


*By which I mean that very little has been maintained, since abandoned comics apparently get devoured by Keenspace eventually.

[squeegee]

Weird - the robot pic to the left of Sven is from Marigold's apartment (note the name of that strip). Which I suppose makes sense if it's Momo's dream-scape.

I also like the more restrained blushing touches, as opposed to the rosy blot on the whole face from other strips. Jeph's always switching things up, a little at a time.

[jayjay]

Originally Posted by squeegee

Weird - the robot pic to the left of Sven is from Marigold's apartment (note the name of that strip). Which I suppose makes sense if it's Momo's dream-scape.

I also like the more restrained blushing touches, as opposed to the rosy blot on the whole face from other strips. Jeph's always switching things up, a little at a time.

If you go back and look at the first couple of strips, the improvement in artwork is astounding. Reading strip by strip each day, you get used to the improved style and your brain tends to extrapolate that back to the beginning, but the art was REALLY primitive back in the first strips.

[willthekittensurvive?]

Originally Posted by jayjay

If you go back and look at the first couple of strips, the improvement in artwork is astounding. Reading strip by strip each day, you get used to the improved style and your brain tends to extrapolate that back to the beginning, but the art was REALLY primitive back in the first strips.

check out this link for the difference

http://jephjacques.tumblr.com/

[Labrador Deceiver]

I just finished the first 500 or so comics, and I just have one question:


Am I supposed to hate Faye? Cause I do.

[tr0psn4j]

Not sure if you're supposed to or not but Faye and Dora are my least favorite characters. I don't hate them or anything but I like them a lot less than everyone else.

I'll put this next part in a spoiler box even though it's very vague and doesn't really spoil anything.

SPOILER:

Faye eventually starts to make an effort to change parts of her personality

You might start liking her more later on in the comic.

[Labrador Deceiver]

Originally Posted by tr0psn4j

Not sure if you're supposed to or not but Faye and Dora are my least favorite characters. I don't hate them or anything but I like them a lot less than everyone else.

I'll put this next part in a spoiler box even though it's very vague and doesn't really spoil anything.

SPOILER:

Faye eventually starts to make an effort to change parts of her personality

You might start liking her more later on in the comic.

Just now getting to that part, I think. I'm at 460, or so.

[Munch]

Originally Posted by MsWhatsit

Just thought I'd stop back in to say that thanks to this thread, I spent the past week reading all of the QC strips from the very beginning. I'm all caught up now, and feeling oddly depressed about it. Like, I have to wait a whole day for each new strip now?

Dammit. Now I am as well.

[Bosstone]

Originally Posted by Labrador Deceiver

I just finished the first 500 or so comics, and I just have one question:


Am I supposed to hate Faye? Cause I do.

I wouldn't say hate, but I'm pretty sure you're supposed to feel sympathetic toward the people she mocks or otherwise jerks around rather than to her. She's not really meant to be likeable, but there are in-strip reasons for that.

Course, I personally have a thing for snarky bitches, so. A little like Angus in that respect.

[astro]

Originally Posted by Labrador Deceiver

I just finished the first 500 or so comics, and I just have one question:


Am I supposed to hate Faye? Cause I do.

Over time it's revealed that Faye has some baggage because

SPOILER:

of her father's suicide (in front of her),

but IMO it's not sufficient for her to behave like the nasty, entitled jackass she is. I used to dislike Faye a lot more because of the way she treated Martin, but over time I came to realize that Martin, regardless of his good points and sensitivity, really is just an utterly submissive, and whiny bitch when push comes to shove in his relationships. That realization made me dislike her less as a lot of her "meanness' to Martin comes from the fact that he has no line he is willing to draw in preventing people abusing or manipulating him. Faye is just a general asshole, but Martin is borderline pathetic in asserting himself.

[Bosstone]

I don't know about that. He does stand up for himself and his friends on occasion when Faye or Dora cross a neurotic line; when he gets pissed off, he's usually quite justified in it.

He is certainly more passive than most, but I'm not on board with the idea that being assertive necessarily means he has to stand up to Faye's sort of behavior, even if you might were you in his place. He could simply be comfortable with her personality and secure enough not to let her mindfuck him too badly. There's a difference between not telling someone off because you're too scared to confront them and not telling someone off because you don't think there's anything to tell them off for, or because you choose to be tolerant.

[MilTan]

Yeah, Faye is pretty mean-spirited (but for somewhat defensible reasons). Dora, however, is just neurotic and insecure. I don't remember if that's ever been justified.

[astro]

Originally Posted by Bosstone

I don't know about that. He does stand up for himself and his friends on occasion when Faye or Dora cross a neurotic line; when he gets pissed off, he's usually quite justified in it.

He is certainly more passive than most, but I'm not on board with the idea that being assertive necessarily means he has to stand up to Faye's sort of behavior, even if you might were you in his place. He could simply be comfortable with her personality and secure enough not to let her mindfuck him too badly. There's a difference between not telling someone off because you're too scared to confront them and not telling someone off because you don't think there's anything to tell them off for, or because you choose to be tolerant.

I suppose that's one way to look at it. One thing I'm surprised they've never shown is Faye getting physically smacked or assaulted by someone she has decided to pinch or hit. The cartoonist gives her absolutely free reign to assault other people (male and female) because of her asshole nature, but she never gets retribution of any kind.

[Ferret Herder]

I'm assuming we're supposed to take for granted that Sven is truly smoking hot? The only way I can tell him and Angus apart is that (*double-checks*) Sven is the one with glasses. Hmm, and I think Angus' chin might be a tad more square.

[Bosstone]

Originally Posted by astro

I suppose that's one way to look at it. One thing I'm surprised they've never shown is Faye getting physically smacked or assaulted by someone she has decided to pinch or hit. The cartoonist gives her absolutely free reign to assault other people (male and female) because of her asshole nature, but she never gets retribution of any kind.

Well, I don't recall her actually hitting another woman with any kind of force, and hitting a man falls under the Double Standard trope; women can be violent to guys and not vice versa. QC is not a wholly realistic strip, so there is room for tropes like that. IIRC, when she hauls off and decks someone, it's also usually justified, and QC's characters are on the whole very self-aware.

I'd have to reread most of the archives to say one way or another, but I think most of her bitchiness falls under "That's just Faye, she doesn't really mean it."

[astro]

Originally Posted by Ferret Herder

I'm assuming we're supposed to take for granted that Sven is truly smoking hot? The only way I can tell him and Angus apart is that (*double-checks*) Sven is the one with glasses. Hmm, and I think Angus' chin might be a tad more square.

God I thought I was the only one. They are practically twins. I think Sven's 'hotness" is more his assertive attitude than anyting else.

[Ferret Herder]

Originally Posted by astro

God I thought I was the only one. They are practically twins. I think Sven's 'hotness" is more his assertive attitude than anyting else.

I would have thought so too, but then there was that chick hitting on him when he was just reading, so obviously it's not a "he lights up the room" thing entirely.

[BrotherCadfael]

Originally Posted by Labrador Deceiver

I just finished the first 500 or so comics, and I just have one question:


Am I supposed to hate Faye? Cause I do.

Episode 500 is where we start to explore why and how Faye became who she is.

I'm still rooting for Faye and Sven. He seems to be growing up a bit - at least to the point where he is no longer necessarily hitting anything that moves.

[Kamino Neko]

Funny, I was just talking to a friend about how much Angus and Sven (who BOTH wear glasses) look alike. (The glasses are the easiest way to tell them apart, though...Angus's are the standard 'eyeglasses' shape, Sven's are rounded rectangles.)

We were unable to decide if this was deliberate on Jeph's part, but I speculated that might have contributed to Marigold's reaction to Sven when she ran into him.

They both look vaguely like Faye would if she were a dude. >_>

[Ferret Herder]

Originally Posted by Tengu

Funny, I was just talking to a friend about how much Angus and Sven (who BOTH wear glasses) look alike. (The glasses are the easiest way to tell them apart, though...Angus's are the standard 'eyeglasses' shape, Sven's are rounded rectangles.)

Argh.

[Enright3]

Originally Posted by MsWhatsit

Just thought I'd stop back in to say that thanks to this thread, I spent the past week reading all of the QC strips from the very beginning. I'm all caught up now, and feeling oddly depressed about it. Like, I have to wait a whole day for each new strip now?

My God, I'm so glad to hear you say that! I felt the same way. What the hell is that all about?

[Labrador Deceiver]

Originally Posted by astro

I suppose that's one way to look at it. One thing I'm surprised they've never shown is Faye getting physically smacked or assaulted by someone she has decided to pinch or hit. The cartoonist gives her absolutely free reign to assault other people (male and female) because of her asshole nature, but she never gets retribution of any kind.

Yeah, the snark doesn't even bother me all that much. It's the fact that she can only respond to any sexual comment with violence, or the threat of it. That's more of a problem with the artist, I guess, since he's beaten that into the ground. Her responses are so predictable they take me right out of the strip.

I do like the comic, though, despite all the problems I have with it.

[Bosstone]

Originally Posted by Labrador Deceiver

That's more of a problem with the artist, I guess, since he's beaten that into the ground.

Nice choice of words.

[Labrador Deceiver]

Originally Posted by Bosstone

Nice choice of words.

Nice. I didn't even notice that until I was reviewing the post.

[squeegee]

Today's strip is interesting, in an epic pyroclastic boob-flow kinda way. Will Tai and Marigold unite to form MariTai? TaiGold? I seriously doubt it, given Jeph's earlier "suck it, shippers" comment re Hannelore+Marigold. But what the hell, its still fun to think about, and Jeph has done a bit of an arc to get everyone here into Marten's/Faye's/Dora's apartments, so it seems reasonable that something interesting will happen; it'd be real boring to just watch Angus and Faye avoid each other all night to spare Marigold's feelings.

My real guess is that Marigold will learn, perhaps with advice from Dora, to start showing off her assets (and breastets) a bit more to get the people to notice that she's attractive. Or just dress better than slouchy "Yaoi Zone" t-shirts and hoodies. She didn't seem shy about settling for, well, any romantic relationship, given she has none and she's been really lonely, so almost any sort of attention might be welcome, even if it leads nowhere for now. That girl needs a little self-confidence.

[Mister Rik]

Originally Posted by kaylasdad99

"Rhymes with Witch" is all one-offs, but includes a recurring theme comic called "Life With Rippy," featuring an anthropomorphic razor blade who lives with the cartoonist.

Is that what that is? For some reason I always interpreted Rippy as being an anthropomorphic ZipLoc bag.

Originally Posted by jayjay

Pffft. I'm a fan of Order of the Stick, Goblins and George R. R. Martin. Waiting three days for the next strip is nothing...

I'm a fan of the first two. But I can one-up those. I used to wait for updates to Chugworth Academy, until it finally became apparent that the artist/writer had simply abandoned it right in the middle of a story arc. A couple weeks ago I happened to launch an old browser and found I still had CA bookmarked, and discovered he'd started it up again a few months ago ... and got about five strips into it and then hasn't updated again since last Fall

Originally Posted by Tengu

We were unable to decide if this was deliberate on Jeph's part, but I speculated that might have contributed to Marigold's reaction to Sven when she ran into him.

I think Marigold just saw and felt exactly the same thing every other female who encounters Sven sees and feels, but was completely overwhelmed by it and panicked.

[tr0psn4j]

Is it me or is it a little boring reading these strips one day at a time? Maybe it's just been a slow two weeks.

[astro]

Originally Posted by squeegee

Today's strip is interesting, in an epic pyroclastic boob-flow kinda way. Will Tai and Marigold unite to form MariTai? TaiGold? I seriously doubt it, given Jeph's earlier "suck it, shippers" comment re Hannelore+Marigold. But what the hell, its still fun to think about, and Jeph has done a bit of an arc to get everyone here into Marten's/Faye's/Dora's apartments, so it seems reasonable that something interesting will happen; it'd be real boring to just watch Angus and Faye avoid each other all night to spare Marigold's feelings.

My real guess is that Marigold will learn, perhaps with advice from Dora, to start showing off her assets (and breastets) a bit more to get the people to notice that she's attractive. Or just dress better than slouchy "Yaoi Zone" t-shirts and hoodies. She didn't seem shy about settling for, well, any romantic relationship, given she has none and she's been really lonely, so almost any sort of attention might be welcome, even if it leads nowhere for now. That girl needs a little self-confidence.

To date Marigold's just been kind of a lumpy schlub. The artist is now trying to re-position her as a possessor of big fun tits via the "my tits are so big my bra strap broke" panel, and the "guests standing in wonder of her breasts" panel. He obviously has some end game planned for this fun bag set up.

The most fun I could see anyone having with this is somehow it comes up that her breasts are bigger than Faye's and seeing Faye's reaction to being deposed as the reigning size queen , but I doubt that's where it's going.

[Little Nemo]

I think the point Jacques is making is that Marigold's problems are illusionary. She's repeatedly said that she's unattractive but we're seeing that other people see her as attractive.

[Bosstone]

Originally Posted by astro

To date Marigold's just been kind of a lumpy schlub. The artist is now trying to re-position her as a possessor of big fun tits via the "my tits are so big my bra strap broke" panel, and the "guests standing in wonder of her breasts" panel. He obviously has some end game planned for this fun bag set up.

I think the point is that even quiet, withdrawn, socially awkward nerds aren't necessarily physically unattractive. And it's something that wouldn't really have been noticed under her normal choice of clothing.

Personally I curse the frustration of fiction. She's geeky/nerdy, plays WoW, has a decent figure, no impairing mental disorders (as yet noticed, anyway), and is single. Damn you, Jeph!

[kaylasdad99]

Originally Posted by Little Nemo

I think the point Jacques is making is that Marigold's problems are illusionary. She's repeatedly said that she's unattractive but we're seeing that other people see her as attractive.

I think she's attractive myself, but I do hope that her creator sees fit to send her to a dermatologist eventually.

Originally Posted by Bosstone

Personally I curse the frustration of fiction. She's geeky/nerdy, plays WoW, has a decent figure, no impairing mental disorders (as yet noticed, anyway), and is single. Damn you, Jeph!

Is the debilitating shyness not considered an impairing mental disorder? I mean perhaps not as impairing as Hanners's OCD (and even with that she's pretty high-functioning), but, come to think of it, does Marigold even work outside her apartment?

[Little Nemo]

If Jacques has a theme it's showing how screwed up individuals are helped by socializing with a group of people. Virtually all of the characters in this strip started out with some kind of problem and they've all improved as they've been hanging out with the others.

Of course if it works the other way as well, you've got to figure Amir, Raven, and Sara are probably institutionalized by now.

[Paintcharge]

Am I the only person who thinks of Yelling Bird when he reads the name Throat Warbler Mangrove?

I have the two linked in my head for some reason.

[Bosstone]

Originally Posted by kaylasdad99

Is the debilitating shyness not considered an impairing mental disorder? I mean perhaps not as impairing as Hanners's OCD (and even with that she's pretty high-functioning), but, come to think of it, does Marigold even work outside her apartment?

It's possible she has acute social anxiety, but it's also just as likely, especially considering she's relaxed in voicechat with WoW guildmates, that she's simply uncomfortable and inexperienced with dealing with people face to face. If it can be treated without medication, I don't consider it necessarily impairing.

Anyway, it was mostly just a comment on my personal success with relationships. I'd welcome nothing more than social anxiety.