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When did Marten grow breasts?
 (From Questionable Content. Click on image to see full-sized image.)
Normally I'm a big fan of Questionable Content. The comic is witty and amusing, and you care about the characters. I even enjoy the occasional tangent that Jacques goes off on about musical groups, though to be honest I tend to enjoy songs, and not groups. But today's Questionable Content just feels... off to me.
The usual format for QC's musical rant goes as follows: Marten or Faye mention a group, the other adds insight into it, and then they start a wry and witty banter about the group and what they think of it. It's cute, it's fun, and it works. But today... we have Faye and Dora starting a musical rant, and it feels like it's Marten and Faye talking.
Dora is not Marten. Yes, she likes music too, and sure, she has her own opinions on it... but the banter just seems so much like what Marten and Faye frequently go off on that I had to check twice and make sure that Marten wasn't hiding in the background using ventriloquism to put words in Dora's mouth. (Though I’ll admit that would have been amusing.)
QC is oriented around music. It's to the indie scene what Cheers was to Boston pubs - a fun place in which everyone knows everyone else and they're all friends. But Dora has her own voice, and this sounded just too much like yet another musical rant with Dora replacing Marten as one of the voices.
On an aside, the ending was amusing enough, with Raven trying to jump into the conversation and failing once again to understand what is actually going on. Indeed, we see a continuation in Faye's growth. The old Faye would have made some snide comment, slapping down Raven without a care in the world. But recently she had a revelation (thanks, amusingly enough, to Raven pointing it out to her) about her own behavior, and she's trying to change.
Likewise, Dora's little dig was equally amusing, as she tells Faye (indirectly) that it's okay to be surly sometimes, just so long as she doesn't overdo it. (Or at least that's what I sense is being said in any event.)
Hmm, why is it I have a sudden image of Marten, sitting on a bed having been transformed into a girl and looking down at a bra, saying "every time I put this thing on I lose a piece of myself"? *grin*
Robert A. Howard
------------------------- Harry Potter and the Catgirl Fetish?
 (From Cheshire Grin. Click on image to see full-sized image.)
Cheshire Grin is in its heart a role-playing gamer geek comic. It is a mixture of Knights of the Dinner Table, Order of the Stick, and perhaps a touch of Nodwick, without being just another gaming comic.
Indeed, CG is great because of the characters, not the setting. Fans are interested in what's going on with Brand, or if Cyn is going to ever go on another date with him, or when Bill will break down and start gaming again. (It was nice to catch a glimpse of Bill again recently, though I do admit I wish we'd seen a little more of his home life and what is causing his wife to change her mind about his gaming habits.)
In all of this, Greg seems to be in the background, more often than not. He's the owner of the store, and while he gave Brand a place to work and to stay, we seldom see him. (Of course, he's also a LARPer instead of a tabletop role-player, so he's unlikely to join in the gaming. More's the pity, I'd love to see him in a couple of their regular games.)
Today's comic is a cute nod at why Greg gave Brand the job and a place to stay. He had projects he wanted to work on, and having another hand around the place would be useful. (Further, Brand is fairly cheap, working for a place to sleep (which was not being used anyway) and some grocery money. Not to mention that outside of a tardiness issue, Brand is a hard worker.) And we've had hints that Greg is working on some new games and the like.
But we all have our guilty pleasures. It seems writing Harry Potter fanfics is one of Greg's. Hey, as a fanfic writer myself, I understand why people write these things. We want to see what would happen if this or that happened in the story. I mean... what if Harry had gone to House Slitherin? What if he'd joined House Ravenclaw? What if Hermione was interested in Harry instead of Ron? (Note, I actually don't bother reading Harry Potter fanfics, these are just ideas I came up with off the top of my head.)
And there is something amusing at the idea of Greg writing Harry Potter fanfics where Hermione become a catgirl. Again.
Robert A. Howard
------------------------- I didn't see that on the Wendy's 99 cent menu...
Scott Kurtz and I have had a slightly confrontational acquaintanceship in the time I've been responding to his posts on various forums. Scott can be... a bit hotheaded at times, and I'm of the opinion that he should remain more professional in his dealings with people, even ones that annoy him. Further, I believe in written retractions if you make a mistake, and Scott just prefers to erase the mistake and let it slide.
But my hat is off to him right now. Sure, he's a skilled artist and storyteller, and much of the time I enjoy his comic (even if it's one of those that I've not read the archives - which actually is a testament to his skill because you don't need to read PvP's archives to understand half of what's going on). More importantly, however, today he's shown something more.
Google has gone to the Dark Side. All of the Star Wars talk has led to Google Ads for movie downloads of Episode 3. Now personally, having seen Ep. 3, I feel 99 cents is too expensive, but that's just because I felt the movie (which was decent enough if taken as just a movie, though Padme and Anakin’s scenes together just sucked) isn't worth paying for. However, a lot of people spent a lot of time putting this movie together. And what's more, it's illegal.
It would be easy to just let the ad slide, or even to just send Google a note about the ads and let them take care of it. But Scott went and wrote a rant on this... and asked people not to download this (or any) movie illegally.
Good for you, Scott. Here's a nromlicious homemade oatmeal cookie. (You want one with raisins, or without?)
Robert A. Howard
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