Jumping the Snark

(From Girly. Click on image to see full-sized and complete image.)

Okay, we all know how much I like this comic. I mean, I've tangented Girly twice before and gone on for a bit about how esoteric the comic is, and how much I enjoy the mixture of humor and story, or even how good the artwork is. Heck, I've gone on about the relationship between our two heroines, Otra and Winter, in an entire tangent. We have a wide and diverse group of characters, all of whom have stories which, while it always returns to Otra and Winter, are interesting in their own right.

Heck, we have heroes, villains, elephants running wild (and eating fire trucks!), happy rainshowers, marshmallow kitties! The insanity and imagination of Girly is boundless! And often you read it and wonder when the straightjackets will be handed out.

Today's comic... is insane. And hilarious. And it pokes fun at Websnark, whose primary reviewer (Eric Burns) has a tendency to give out biscuits - tasty tasty biscuits - to the comics that he feels deserves it.

Don't get me wrong. Websnark is a fantastic site, and I check on it several times a day to see what Eric has gotten to say. I'm not alone in this. In fact, it's become a part of the webcomic culture. Getting Snarked can often increase a comic's audience as people eagerly listen to Eric's advice and then go off and read his suggestions.

(This, however, is not necessarily a good thing. I remember not reading GPF's archives because Eric had snarked negatively on the comic, and claimed things went bad starting with the "Surreptitious Machinations" storyline. Recently I saw a strip that just begged me to tangent it. In preparing to do a review for GPF, I realized I should read the archives to get a better feel of the comic... and absolutely loved that storyline. Readers should realize that even if Websnark or Tangents (or any other review site) is critical on a comic, that does not mean you might not enjoy the comic. Likewise, just because we love a comic, it doesn't mean that you will enjoy it. Peoples tastes differ.)

Er, sorry about that. Hey, the site's called Tangents. You have to expect me to go off on one occasionally! *grin*

So. Girly. We have a cute and fun bit with Chuy just ranting and loving a rather silly little comic strip... and giving it a biscuit. And Wendy and her sister are left staring and going "Ooookay... that's just weird." Well, they're not saying that. Instead they're just staring at him and watching him look at the biscuit with an expression of expectancy on his face, like he's waiting for the comic to... I don't know, eat it or something.

Of course, this is Girly. We had the God of Hats (that first appeared in a hallucination) appear in the comic and give Winter a hat (well, she asked for a muse, but I guess muses are hard to come by. I mean, just ask Malachite from Gossamer Commons). We have elephants showing up at the drop of a hat (figuratively, but probably literally as well). I could easily see the comic-within-a-comic coming to life and devouring said biscuit.

Naturally I had to tangent this. And I'm sure Eric will snark it as well.

Why is it I can visualize Eric printing out a comic he's Snarking and putting a biscuit on top of it? *wry grin*

Robert A. Howard
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The Tangents Lexicon

You know, it's been a month since I started Tangents (well, the Tangents review site, at least - the original Tangents comic first appeared in November of 2001 and lasted all of 33 updates), and I figure I might as well talk about that briefly. Don't worry, it won't be too boring. *wry smile*

So... why Tangents? I mean, there already is a Websnark that does something very similar. The thing is, though, Eric writes about what he wants, and what he finds interesting. And what he finds interesting is fun and funny comics.

There have been several comics I've seen that I thought deserved to be Snarked by Eric. Heck, I am willing to bet quite a few readers of Websnark have experienced that... having seen a comic that they just think absolutely rocks and they e-mail Eric... and nothing. Hey, it's not like he does this for a living, and he snarks about things he finds interesting. What excites you or I won't necessarily interest someone else.

In the end... you can blame Reinder, of Rogues of Clwyd-Rhan for pushing me in this direction. He actually recommended doing a Blog for my reviews, but... I was resistant to that idea. Anyone can do a blog, really. And I had this perfectly good Keenspace account just begging to be used... *wry grin*

While I'm here, I might as well answer a couple questions. Well, I've not been asked yet, but I know some of you are scratching your heads at phrases like nromlicious and the like. *wry grin*

What's nromlicious, and why's it in front of those cookies?

Heh. This is a holdover from my days on #crfh (on Nightstar). One of the Boardies there, MilesFoxx, would pantomime chewing his food with the word "nrom." It grew from there. Miles soon became a master of Nrom-Fu, the art of eating your food thoroughly with the fewest possible nroms (Miles being a master because he could nrom food without nroming at all). So I suppose nromlicious cookies are sort of a combination of chewy delicious cookies. (Amusingly enough, my grandmother's oatmeal cookies are actually hard, but still divinely delicious.)

When I started writing the reviews, I wanted to have something to reward exceptional strips. Eric already has tasty tasty biscuits. Giving out stars or the like is a bit demeaning. And who hasn't been offered a cookie for doing something good? *wry grin*

Another holdover of the IRC. The Kitten Collective is sort of like a non-biomechanical Borg, comprised of all kittens. Hey, I think kittens are cute. *wry smile* And the thought of fifty or so kittens, all in a hive-mind, just amuses me. So they're my mascots, of sorts. Besides, they told me if they weren't included in Tangents, they'd make me regret it. Never dare imaginary hive-minded kittens to do something... you'll regret it. *eyes the little... darlings*

Heh. Steve's the Video Store Guy who writes the Reel Advice columns, warning us what direct-to-video horror movies we should avoid like the plague... and which ones are actually pretty damn good. I've known him for years and he's letting me put his column on my site. And he's also apt to write up a rant or two on webcomics which I'll then post (he's thinking of one or two right now, in fact). I think it gives Tangents a touch of diversity. And I have one or two other friends whom I've extended an invitation to write an occasional tangent, but I'll be the primary writer. I mean, yes, Tangents is primarily about webcomics, but I reserve the right to talk about whatever else I feel like.

Hey, did you see those Burger King commercials? Damn but they give me nightmares. Sometimes I just feel the need to talk about these things. They're never going to replace the webcomic reviews, just supplement them from time to time.

To be honest, that depends on the day and what comics catch my attention. There are some comics I've not tangented on yet because the right moment hasn't arisen. There are some (such as the current crossover between Melonpool and Zortic) that just aren't at a point that I feel would interest new readers. But I will try to have at least one tangent a day, and I've been pacing myself of late to no more than 2-3 a day. Hey, I don't want to run out of comics to review, do I? *wry smile*

Because the voices in my head told me to. *shiftyeyes*

Wait, some of them know what they're doing?

(From Nodwick. Click on image to see latest full-sized image.)

I first remember encountering Nodwick on the pages of Dragon Magazine, one-page bits about three adventurers and their henchman Nodwick. It was a diverse twisty little comic, with the sweet, somewhat gentle, and nice Piffany (who was, naturally enough, a priestess) who did her healing with duct tape, the wizard Artax (who really isn't that bad of a chap, at least not when compared to the warrior of the group. Sure, he's materialistic and has no conscience, but outside of that...), and the warrior Yeagar, who's nominally the leader of the group. Well, he thinks he's the leader. At least he gets them into most of the trouble they find.

And of course there's Nodwick, the poor hapless henchman who far too often is killed by his own companions idiocy (or outright using him as bait). He's actually wiser (and probably smarter) than the rest of the group, having learned the hard way what's going to happen. This sardonic humor isn't lost in the actual dead-paper comic book version of Nodwick which is out there (it's up to issue #27), but also includes more of an epic storyline (something to do with an evil God that's trying to be ressurected), and definitely isn't lost with the on-line version of Nodwick.

Aaron Williams isn't going to same route the Foglios did with Girl Genius. Nodwick updates weekly, and is about secondary stories that can easily be told in one page (similar to the old Dragon Magazine strips). There's more punchline and less story, but it's still pretty damn good. And it gives you something to read while waiting for the next comicbook to come out. *wry smile*

Oh, and if you're wondering about the old Dragon Magazine strips... they're also included on the Nodwick site, along with strips drawn for Dungeon Magazine (specific for a different module in the magazine, with a note on what the basis of the comic was).

Nodwick updates weekly each Thursday.

Robert A. Howard
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