# The Genius of Achewood **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 22, 2004, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genius-of-achewood/256403 "2004-07-22T20:19:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genius-of-achewood/256403/1 "2004-07-22T20:19:31Z")
I’ve said it before, but it deserves its own thread: **[Achewood](http://www.achewood.com)** by Chris Onstad is the greatest webcomic there is, if not the greatest _thing_ on the internet. I don’t understand why it’s not even more popular than it is. It’s really not hyperbole to say that it’s genius. Onstad has an absolutely perfect sense of timing, and he understands that it’s not always about hitting the audience over the head with the punchline – sometimes what you don’t say can be even funnier than what you do. Plus, there’s so much imagination that goes into the series, both with the storylines themselves and with the stuff he does with the format itself. It reminds me a little of _Pogo_, except that it of course takes more risks. And there’s more types of humor going on – Onstad goes between gutter humor, to black comedy, to earnest and sentimental, to referential humor, to just straight out punch-lines, sometimes all in the same strip. The basic premise is a strip about Onstad’s stuffed animals and what they do [while the humans are out of the house](http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=10222001). It evolved over time into focusing on some of the neighborhood cats, the G-string wearing Ray Smuckles and the perpetually depressed computer programmer Roast Beef. You really need to read the strip long-term to truly appreciate it, so start digging through [the archives](http://www.achewood.com/list.php)! But for now, here are some of my favorites: [Phillippe’s Mouth](http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=10152001) [Pork Chops](http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=02132002) [The Neatest Person in Heaven](http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=02212002) [Chucklebot News](http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=04052002) [Phillippe’s New Shoes](http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=06102002) [ASS IN YOUR PANTS](http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=11182002) [Doin’ the Robot](http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=04302003) [Cathy](http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=05232003) [Artificial Japanese Liver](http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=07012003) [Lore Day One](http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=10102003) [Japanese Interests](http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=10282003) [Beef and the Hell Phone](http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=12122003) [Honking Bus, Rusty Bikes](http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=01142004) [Beef Gets a Shirt from Molly](http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=02182004) [Baba O’Riley](http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=04302004) [The Isoceles Lock](http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=05032004) [Roomba Cinema: The Wrath of Khan](http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=05172004) [Molly?](http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=06142004) [Ray is a Goth Bootsy Collins](http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=06302004) ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genius-of-achewood/256403/2 "2004-07-22T21:06:51Z")
Preach it, brother! You may also wish to check out the OFFICIAL Unofficial Achewood Message Board here. Now, everybody dance like there’s ass in your pants. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genius-of-achewood/256403/3 "2004-07-22T22:29:28Z")
And I forgot one, the [free sample from serializer.net](http://www.serializer.net/series.php?name=onstadproject&view=archive&seq=1319) is pretty damn funny too. I first heard about the strip from [Lore Sjoberg formerly of The Brunching Shuttlecocks’ website](http://slumbering.lungfish.com/), confirming my suspicion that Lore is a bad-ass. Plus, apparently [James Lileks](http://www.lileks.com/bleats/archive/04/0704/071404.html) is a fan as well. Why isn’t this strip more popular, again? > [@AugestWest](#): > > You may also wish to check out the OFFICIAL Unofficial Achewood Message Board here. I am now a member. ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genius-of-achewood/256403/4 "2004-07-23T01:57:55Z")
Dave Barry is also a fan. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genius-of-achewood/256403/5 "2004-07-30T21:22:41Z")
Apparently, I missed more than a month’s worth of old ones in there. Like this one: [Allergic to chicken](http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=10172003) ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2004, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genius-of-achewood/256403/6 "2004-07-30T21:55:18Z")
Cute, but I prefer [Sinfest](http://sinfest.net/). ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-genius-of-achewood/256403/7 "2004-08-05T07:19:10Z")
Yep, you guessed it, [another new favorite strip](http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=02212003). I can’t stop laughing.