Penny Arcade

[Salka]

Is it just me or has Penny Arcade just become crude and unfunny? Even more than it was before? I mean, every second word is 'fuck'. And the punchline to every comic is 'fuck'. And I understand that Tycho knows far more words than I ever hope to know, but does he have to use every single one of them in all his updates? Reading his news posts is like drowning in a swamp of the english language. You would think that, knowing so many words, he'd be able to find a few alternatives to 'shit' and 'fuck'.

And everything Gabe draws looks the fucking same.

Also, what's with the news posts? It's basically a big bunch of links now.

God, Jesus, Argh. I hate Penny Arcade so much.

[Roderick]

You're overreacting, but it's a question of taste. For the past year, Penny Arcade has in my opinion never been funnier. And I like drowning in thesaurus-saturated rants

[Marek]

Things that aren't cool to hate anymore:

1) Penny Arcade

2) Edge

3) Nintendo

Hating PA is so last year.

This comic was really lame though...

[manny_c44]

Yeah it's pretty shite.

I don't know what that spat with 'Non-Sequitur' was all about, does anyone know how that started? I just remember going to PA one day and the whole news post was a vitriolic rant about how much better they were then NS...which they aren't.

[Salka]

Things that aren't cool to hate anymore:

1) Penny Arcade

2) Edge

3) Nintendo

Hating PA is so last year.

I'm not hating PA as part of a fashion statement or anything, if that's what you mean?

I think that the swearwords they use in most instances are unnecessary and make the comic/humour seem less intelligent. I also think Gabe and Tycho come across as pricks. I wasn't aware this was some kind of fashion statement.

I also wasn't aware it was ever fashionable to hate Edge or Nintendo. I mean, that's probably because I don't know what Edge is, and as for Nintendo, I've never particularly liked them. Maybe this made me super-cool throughout 2004 without even knowing it, or perhaps my refusal to move with gamer opinion fashion is what's caused me to become super-lame in recent weeks.

Is it still cool to like adventure games? What about Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, should I like that? I think you should tell me so I can alter my opinion accordingly. And what's so good about Penny Arcade that I can pretend to like it in order to not seem last year? Game Opinion Fashion matters so much to me, I don't want to fall behind.

P.S. The comic you showed is pretty much exactly like another comic they had a while back... but the other one was funnier. Can anybody remember it? Gabe spoiling some movie for Tycho? Or was it the other way around?

You're overreacting, but it's a question of taste. For the past year, Penny Arcade has in my opinion never been funnier. And I like drowning in thesaurus-saturated rants

Yeah, I don't actually hate them so much as I'm really frustrated that their standards seem to have fallen so low. Then again, you seem to like it, so I guess it's working for some. Myself, I preferred the Penny Arcade of about a year ago which, unfortunately, seemed fashionable to dislike. Man am I out of tune with this shtuff.

[Roderick]

I think if you're doing something three times a week for years and years, you're bound to repeat yourself at one point or another. You can't be hilarious all the time. The Thumb knows this, that's why the only update once in a fortnight.

[Nick]

The Thumb knows this, that's why the only update once in a fortnight.

An update every fortnight now!?

I'll believe it when I see it

[Lechimp]

I used to like them a lot more but I agree that their comics have been becoming more hit and miss lately. The latest one kinda insults Lorne Lanning even though he's one of the few people to make original games. And the comic below doesn't even have a joke

http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2005-03-25&res=l

Wow, it's great that you like lumines and all, but you don't have to make a crappy comic about it. They still make some pretty good comics every now and then though.

[lailoken]

well it has to be a matter of taste. this friend of mine always likes the PA strips I don't like (as much) so I guess different things for different things... you know people...hmm...

On another note, Family Guy is back!!! Wheeeeehaaaaawwwww!!!!

[MrHoatzin]

Salks, darling, weren't we talking about grumpiness the other night?

:ponycrap:

[Salka]

But they really get my goat

Okay let's think of positive things to say. Oo, I have one! I used to love Penny Arcade! They used to rock! Oh, but it was unfashionable to like Penny Arcade back then, so I guess that made me a loser. Now I'm pissed off again.

Way to go, Kingz ...

I think the only PA strip I have liked recently, is that one where Gabe gets eaten by a snake, and I think that's mostly because Gabe gets eaten by a snake.

One thing I definitely do love is that Monkey Island fangame!!!

[Chris]

Yeah it's pretty shite.

I don't know what that spat with 'Non-Sequitur' was all about, does anyone know how that started? I just remember going to PA one day and the whole news post was a vitriolic rant about how much better they were then NS...which they aren't.

I used to really like Non Sequitur when I was younger, now I think it's second=rate overblown satire. Anyway, probably the issue of Non Sequitur that was in question was a strip in which a guy called Scotty (a short overweight bespectacled dude) is trying to get into a club but the big beefy bouncer. Scotty is saying "Since when do celebreties have to be on the guest list!?" or something, and the caption is "Scotty discovers that having a lot of people visit your website does not make you famous." This was clearly a direct jab at Scott Kurtz, who was (possibly still is, I don't know) trying to get his webcomic PvP syndicated in newspapers. He was offering it for free, just for the exposure. He was the subject of ridicule by many syndicated cartoonists, and was the subject of all sorts of letters to editors verbally reaming him for thinking he can hang with the big boys. Jake and I attended a panel at Comic-Con which put webcomic artists and syndicated cartoonists int he same room, and it was astonishing. The syndicated guys just shit all over the webcomic guys for being too big for their britches, thinking they're successful, and the webcomic guys accused the syndicated guys of being outmoded and stubborn. Both sides accused the other of naivite. Anyway, while both sides were being kind of jerks, the thing I don't think that the syndicated guys understand is that people like Scott Kurtz and Gabe and Tycho are successful. They make a comfortable living, and honestly they have a way better deal than the syndicated guys, because they make their own terms. The syndicated guys have a certain degree of security, but if their syndicate desides to fuck them or if a newspaper drops them, that's it. And that's not to mention the increasingly shitty conditions that led people like Bill Watterson to drop out of the business entirely. There are clearly way more unsuccessful webcomic artists than practically any other "job" in the world, but syndicated cartoonists are blind if they don't think it's a feasable way to make money. Whether Kurtz gets in the papers or not doesn't matter. He doesn't have to in order to be a success, and the syndicated guys don't realize that. To them, newspaper=success. For Kurtz, newspaper=bonus, but certainly nothing he needs to keep on doing what he does and supporting his family.

[Chris]

I used to like them a lot more but I agree that their comics have been becoming more hit and miss lately. The latest one kinda insults Lorne Lanning even though he's one of the few people to make original games. And the comic below doesn't even have a joke

http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2005-03-25&res=l

Wow, it's great that you like lumines and all, but you don't have to make a crappy comic about it. They still make some pretty good comics every now and then though.

Haha I actually like the Lumines one but I agree the Lorne Lanning one was kind of unnecessary.

[Dingo Chavez]

They still write and draw some great comics.

Have you ever heard of GU Comics? It has some very clever game related comics, quite similar to Penny Arcade but without the potty mouth.

http://www.gucomics.com/

[loonyboi]

And that's not to mention the increasingly shitty conditions that led people like Bill Watterson to drop out of the business entirely.

Bill Watterson didn't stop doing Calvin & Hobbes because of the crappy conditions, he stopped because he got burned out on daily deadlines. You can't blame the syndicates for that (he was doing a daily strip! what did he expect?).

That's not to say that syndicates don't do horrible things to cartoonists, but I look at guys like Gary Trudeau and Charles Schultz and to a lesser extent Bill Griffith, and I see artists with a real work ethic and undestanding of their audience. Frank Cho's a great cartoonist, and I love Liberty Meadows, but he is clearly someone who just wasn't able to think in short bursts like daily cartoonists need to do. He did *tons* of strips where it was one panel, or no joke, or just plain filler material. He's much better off in comic book form.

Having said all of that, I think online people like Scott Kurtz and Tatsuya Ishida have that same mentality as guys like Trudeau. In the case of Ishida, I doubt he'll ever get a syndication deal, but that's just because the subject matter of his strip is so...mature. As a bonus, I find the futility meter on Sinfest.net to be hilarious in and of itself.

[JoeX111]

I've never been a fan of Penny Arcade and Sinfest got old for me after a month or two, where I realized it is the same five or six jokes just rehashed again and again. There is a great PVP comic that sums up what I think of Penny Arcade, but I can't seem to find it at the moment.....

*goes back to looking*

[manny_c44]

Thanks for the post Chris

Bill Watterson didn't stop doing Calvin & Hobbes because of the crappy conditions, he stopped because he got burned out on daily deadlines. You can't blame the syndicates for that (he was doing a daily strip! what did he expect?).

While you are probably right, Watterson did a whole load of complaining about the shrinking page space that comics evolved into. He was complaining about how the space totally crippled the artwork (and when he did large panels they were usually awesome).

And when you think about it, web comics should be all over their freedom, if for nothing else then to create in the old way of large, elaborate comics where you could tell a story. Instead we have PA and co. with there 3-panel nu-cartoon style, who are just ripping off the already poorly done cartoons in modern newspapers. I mean, they should do whatever they think is best for the material, but putting faux newspaper limitations on your work is dumb.

[Jake]

Instead we have PA and co. with there 3-panel nu-cartoon style, who are just ripping off the already poorly done cartoons in modern newspapers. I mean, they should do whatever they think is best for the material, but putting faux newspaper limitations on your work is dumb.

Except Penny Arcade changes size whenever they need it to... which you definitely can't do with a newspaper strip.

I don't think PA went into webcomics with the goal of totally busting the mold of the comic strip format, so I don't hold it against them that they do most of their stuff as 3 or 4 panel short strips.

[manny_c44]

No, but it would be nice if a talented web based artist in the future went ahead and opted for a larger format.

[tabacco]

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0740748475/adventuregame-20

Speaking of Calvin and Hobbes, I really wish I could afford this

[manny_c44]

Woah that does look good, I hope they don't print that on super-glossy paper though, I hate reading glossy things.

[loonyboi]

And when you think about it, web comics should be all over their freedom, if for nothing else then to create in the old way of large, elaborate comics where you could tell a story. Instead we have PA and co. with there 3-panel nu-cartoon style, who are just ripping off the already poorly done cartoons in modern newspapers. I mean, they should do whatever they think is best for the material, but putting faux newspaper limitations on your work is dumb.

Except you're ignoring the fact that there's nothing wrong with the sideways panel layout, and it's ideal for a daily strip, regardless of page space in print.

Yes, online cartoonists can do whatever they want, but if it's daily, it's smart to stick to short burtsts that can work into an existing template. If any of these daily guys (Sinfest, PvP) started doing five, six or ten panels a day, they'd get burned out in six months.

But what the hell do I know. I've never drawn a comic strip, although I was a character in PvP and was made fun of in PA.

[Roderick]

I'd go Bananas if I had to come up with a whole page of August every day. I could do it, if I'd get payed for it.