# Has PvP jumped the shark? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 20, 2003, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pvp-jumped-the-shark/162829 "2003-03-20T16:18:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kantalooppi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a5b964/32.png) [@Kantalooppi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kantalooppi)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pvp-jumped-the-shark/162829/1 "2003-03-20T16:18:09Z")
[The webcomic PvP](http://www.pvponline.com) is among my favorite webcomics, alongside Sinfest, Sluggy Freelance, Sexy Losers and new addition to my webcomic reading list, Something Positive. (That’s a lot of s’s there. Never thought of that, really.) However, I can’t help but feel there’s something amiss there. Maybe I’m just biased against scroll bars, but it hasn’t felt as good ever since the format change about a month-and-a-half ago. ---
**Author:** ![Gorgon\_Heap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pvp-jumped-the-shark/162829/2 "2003-03-20T16:37:49Z")
I fail to see how a comic strip in which one of the main characters is a troll can jump the shark very easily. ---
**Author:** ![dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorkusmalorkusmafia/32/7266_2.png) [@dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorkusmalorkusmafia)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pvp-jumped-the-shark/162829/3 "2003-03-20T16:37:52Z")
It has leapfrogged with the shark for some time now. I read it to pass the time daily but if I miss a comic I don’t go searching back through the archives to find out what I missed. I have felt that way about it for about a year, long before it changed from the box to the panel. I think Scott Kurtz has been running low on ideas for about that long and when he comes up with an idea that gains him notoriety (like dissing all the other webcomics) he plays it off poorly and just manages to look like a jerk. Even with that said, I still read it. ---
**Author:** ![broccoli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@broccoli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/broccoli)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pvp-jumped-the-shark/162829/4 "2003-03-20T18:20:43Z")
Yes. Where are the IT Ninja and the WebMonkey? Skull is funny, but he’s no ninja. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pvp-jumped-the-shark/162829/5 "2003-03-20T19:06:54Z")
[hijack]My interpretation of ‘jump the shark’ is a singular event, with rare reverse jumps. A poor storyline, followed up by a decent storyline (or episodes in a TV series) does not, IMNSHO, constitute ‘jumping the shark’. Jumping the shark is not something determined in real-time. It only becomes apparent over time[/hijack] No, it has not. Even though Scott Kurtz obviously (and rightly so) devotes more time to his comic book and other **paying** PVP endeavors, he still produces a good, free daily comic strip. **broccoli!** , you’ll find ninja’s and web monkeys at Angst Technology, but I’m pretty sure that is what you were referring to anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Zanshin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e274bd/32.png) [@Zanshin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zanshin)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pvp-jumped-the-shark/162829/6 "2003-03-20T19:07:19Z")
Overall I think PvP is still a damn good webcomic. Kurtz has identified his target audience well (us twenty-to-thirtysomething gamer geeks and pop culture fanatics) and he makes me laugh pretty consistently. That being said, I’m not a big fan of the current storyline (Skull turning into an ubergenius) and I’m just waiting for the next one to start. It’s like any entertainment product; there are good episodes and bad episodes. But on the whole, the good so far outweighs the bad. ---
**Author:** ![broccoli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@broccoli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/broccoli)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pvp-jumped-the-shark/162829/7 "2003-03-20T19:25:50Z")
Correct. I just think more comics need ninja (ninjii?) and monkies. ---
**Author:** ![lurkernomore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@lurkernomore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurkernomore)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pvp-jumped-the-shark/162829/8 "2003-03-20T19:47:28Z")
I think he’s in a slump, but han’t jumped the monkey. I think Nodwick, who he’s linked to, is funnier. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pvp-jumped-the-shark/162829/9 "2003-03-20T23:45:52Z")
_PvP_ is okay, but it hasn’t been super-laugh-out-loud funny for me in a long time. And that’s even after I ignore Kurtz’s oft-reported ego problems. _Dork Tower,_ by John Kovalic, now **that’s** funny! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pvp-jumped-the-shark/162829/10 "2003-03-21T06:17:23Z")
It’s still light years ahead of Penny Arcade, which even to a gaming nerd like me seems beyond obscure and unfunny 99.9% of the time. At least PvP has some heart to it. ---
**Author:** ![Omorka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/50afbb/32.png) [@Omorka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omorka)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pvp-jumped-the-shark/162829/11 "2003-03-21T08:34:16Z")
It jumped back when he redesigned Jade and Francis, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Mearl\_Dox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Mearl\_Dox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mearl_Dox)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pvp-jumped-the-shark/162829/12 "2003-03-21T09:10:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ElwoodCuse \* > \*\*It’s still light years ahead of Penny Arcade, which even to a gaming nerd like me seems beyond obscure and unfunny 99.9% of the time. At least PvP has some heart to it. \*\* Wow, I can’t believe it, I’m not the only geek who doesn’t like Penny Arcade? My brother! PvP has bored me lately too, but I still want to give it a chance. I wish it’d focus less on Skull, since he’s my least favorite character. Angst Technology is a little dull too right now, but not so much. It still makes me laugh off and on. ---
**Author:** ![Short\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Short\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Short_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pvp-jumped-the-shark/162829/13 "2003-03-21T09:15:35Z")
I didn’t know PvP before I read this thread, and now that I’ve read some of it I have to say I liked it. It’s crazy, but not so out there that it becomes unfunny (as, indeed PennyArcade sometimes is), it’s fabulously well drawn, and you just gotta love that troll. It may not be equally funny all of the time, but can you think of a webcomic that is? I mean, mine sure isn’t. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pvp-jumped-the-shark/162829/14 "2003-03-22T06:50:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Omorka \* > \*\*It jumped back when he redesigned Jade and Francis, IMHO. \*\* Is it wrong to think Marcy (post-redesign) is hot? I’d totally dig her, except for the purple hair. (Says the guy who singlehandedly got his GF to buy a PS2 and later beat Vice City 100%) ---
**Author:** ![Eternal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@Eternal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eternal)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pvp-jumped-the-shark/162829/15 "2003-03-22T07:49:30Z")
PvP is internet comic’s Garfield. ---
**Author:** ![MrVisible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@MrVisible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrVisible)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pvp-jumped-the-shark/162829/16 "2003-03-22T07:52:03Z")
Well, **Short Guy** , I just read Ur Kult, and had a few laugh out loud moments. I’ll be adding it to my daily webcomic perusal list. I’d very much like to see another episode of “Mutant Powers We’d Like To Have.” Funny stuff, that. As to PVP… at least it hasn’t fallen as far as Sluggy lately. Man, I remember when Sluggy used to be funny. ---
**Author:** ![Short\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Short\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Short_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-pvp-jumped-the-shark/162829/17 "2003-03-22T08:37:03Z")
Wow. Thanks, **MrVisible**. It’s comments like that which make it all worthwile. Just like to note that it’s not a “daily” comic per se, it’s basically updated whenever I have the time. But more mutant powers may be coming up :).