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Apologies for the delay in Saturday's Tangents
I'm afraid I was home all day mowing the lawn at my folks place and didn't get up here 'til late tonight. I should have had something prepared earlier but... well, it was one of those days where it was hard to get started doing anything. That and my parents dial-up is 50% slower than most dial-up servers and they don't have an FTP program on their computer so it's honestly simpler just to drive up home and work on my own computer to do the tangents. This is why I've been delayed in Tangents these last couple of weeks.
I've also been noticing a number of Code 404 errors showing up in my hits. My suspicion is that the error is caused by the Tagboard, so I'll be doing some administrative work on the site by removing the Tagboard for a few days and see if the 404 errors stop. If anyone else has gotten a Code 404 error when visiting my site, please send me an e-mail at Looniewolf [at] Hotmail [dot] com and let me know where in the site you received the error.
Thank you, gang.
Robert A. Howard
-------------------- Saturday Sluggy Social Skills
 (From Sluggy Freelance: Bikini Suicide Frisbee Days. Click on image to see full-sized image.)
Back before I stopped reading Sluggy Freelance, I was one of the more outstanding critics of the comic. One of the things I commented on frequently was the "Meanwhile in the Dimension of *" strips, which weren't that funny and seemed like a waste of time to me. And I wasn't alone in this. Quite a few fans spoke up about Saturday Sluggy, and the desire for Pete to either start having normal Sluggy strips on Saturdays, or just nothing at all.
Which is a shame, really. Ian McDonald is a talented artist and storyteller. It's just... Sluggy Freelance is the domain of Pete Abrams. The characters within are his characters. And other people just can't give them the justice they deserve. Not really.
I speak as a fanficcer here. I've written stories for College Roomies, for Clan of the Cats, for It's Walky. Many have remained incomplete... and others have gone on to glorious endings. And yet for all of my skill as a writer, I cannot truly capture the essence of Maritza's characters, of Jamie's characters, or of David's characters. In the end, it is my interpretation of these souls... and while I may try to stay true to the characters, while I may try to be faithful to the essence of the comic... it's still my interpretation.
And so we now have Bikini Suicide Frisbee Days, by Clay Yount. And sometimes Clay gets close to the Sluggy we knew and loved. I first started reading the BSFD Sluggy 3 weeks after it began. We had a Riot Grrl Scout selling cookies for her punk troop, and a cheering Kiki. To be honest, it's not too difficult characterizing Kiki. The wee dear (Kiki, that is) is fairly simplistic (probably the one character who's had less evolution is BunBun himself), so it's not too difficult to approximate her character.
But when we move on to Torg and Riff... things aren't quite as true to form. Last month had a multi-part storyline concerning Torg, Riff, and Zoe going to Tokyo, Japan for a S.M.U.R.F. (Super Mecha Ultra Robot Festival) and encountering giant lizards and Yakuza and more. Yet... it didn't quite work for me. It's like it was a fraction of a note off. Once again, it's not Sluggy.
The sad thing is... from what I've been told, it's still funnier than Sluggy Freelance has been of late. They're back to Torg and crew (no idea what was up with BunBun the Pirate) and Torg is over his depression and Zoe isn't with them (maybe Torg was depressed because of the constant reminder of Zoe2 and her death during That Which Redeems?) and outside of an infant assaulting the guys (so my Sluggy-reading sources tell me), Bikini Suicide Frisbee Days is still funnier than regular Sluggy Freelance.
I don't know why the Saturday strips mean so much to me. It's like complaining that a fanfic isn't true to the characters. And Clay does a good job. It's more interesting than MitDo* strips. And more often than not, it's funnier than Sluggy itself has been.
So why then am I disappointed with these strips?
Maybe... maybe it's because it's not Sluggy Freelance. It's a nod at older Sluggy strips, a time that I found amusing but that didn't truly catch my attention. To me, Sluggy Freelance is the story leading up to That Which Redeems, with Gwynn having been demon-possessed and slowly learning magic again, with Torg and Zoe having a non-relationship, and Riff being clueless. Suicide Frisbee Days aren't what I think of when I think of Sluggy Freelance.
And maybe that's why Saturday Sluggy just falls flat for me. Lots of fans truly enjoy the early Sluggy strips. They enjoy the light-hearted nature of Sluggy back then, of Zoe interning and BunBun scheming and being nasty, of Aylee not understanding human nature... but what about when Gwynn Turned Around? What of when Riff told Gwynn that he couldn't let her be the hero for once, because he's union? What of when Zoe held Torg, as Torg cried, having just returned home... mourning the loss of a Zoe he couldn't protect... and of being home and in this world's Zoe's arms?
Still, I'll continue to read Saturday Sluggy. Even when it's half a step off, it's still good.
Robert A. Howard
------------------------ Have Pun, Will Travel
 (From Dominic Deegan. Click on image to see full-sized image.)
My roommate wants me to oh-pun this tangent with this line: The pun is mightier than the sword.
I only recently started reading Dominic Deegan (within the last half year), thanks to a suggestion from a Boardie on #crfh. It was immediately apparent to me that my roommate, who loves puns and bad jokes, would love this comic instantly. I only had to show him one comic to get him hooked.
It worked. Hell, I've enjoyed this comic greatly, especially with the epic story that was being introduced when I arrived on the scene. You know me, I'm a sucker about epic stories (or comics with intelligent cats - the Kittens love on-line cats).
Well, the epic quest is done. The Storm of Souls is dealt with. And yet things are not yet wrapping up. We've gone from dealing with the Storm to a surprise attack from the First Chosen, and then to a betrayal... and now Dominic's friends and father plan on going to his rescue. In fact, even now Dominic's friends are finishing their fights against other Chosen... and prepare to go after Dominic.
(By the way, I don't see Klo Tark's manipulating Luna into firing a spell at him and missing as "jumping the shark" as some fans complained, for one very good reason: Klo Tark is a Seer, much like Dominic. Thus he knew where the Chosen Infernomancer was going to be, and where exactly to have Luna fire off a bolt to nail that bastard. So think of it as a Seer thing, instead of "cheesy storytelling" or the like.)
So. Today's comic we go back to Dominic's dad facing against Patches, Jacob's creation... and having a joke be what does Patches in. Especially the disgusted look on Jacob's face when he realizes that his dad's bad jokes are winning this battle. It's the classic Deegan stare. The look of "oh great, someone beat me to the pun" that we've seen on Dominic's face over and over again, and on Dominic's mom from time to time as well.
This is classic Dominic Deegan. Especially the final panel, with Dominic's dad just standing there with a look on his face of "I cannot believe this is working..." With three more puns, he'll be a six-pun hero. (Blame my roommate; he said it, not me!)
Robert A. Howard
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