Abstruse Goose (Webcomics)

Just a quick post with a new webcomic to link to. This installment is Abstruse Goose. It's pretty geeky but in a way which is much funnier than xkcd, although much less likely to be understood outside of math/CS/physics circles. However, this one I think has some universal appeal (and the equation's true).

And thanks to Esko for pointing out this comic to me.

We can rebuild him

I was outfitted today with a high-tech physical enhancement system, an external opto-mechanical device known as "glasses". I trust that I look dashing.

Photo-Op

I don't know the context of this photo, such as who the guy on the left is, if Biden was VP at the time, or if it's even real. But I would like to think that I'm citizen of a country great enough that it's sitting vice-president would be photographed shaking hands with a guy wearing a t-shirt featuring the impending mortal combat of a werewolf and a unicorn.

BTW, the above picture was obtained here. Also, I'm going to marry this girl if only to see if I can get a Tanooki Suit out of that box.

Speaking of...

Having just recently been describing SMBC, I'd be remiss in not pointing out this most recent comic. Don't forget to check out the votey by clicking the red button!

Finally, a Doctor more impressive than House (Webcomics)

Here's another round of webcomics. In this case I'll just introduce you to one, The Adventures of Dr. McNinja. Now if this sounds completely ridiculous to you, then you must be listening. Dr. McNinja lives up to his name, as a ninja and a medical doctor who is apparently also Irish (not to give anything away, but there are shamrock throwing-stars at one point). The good doctor has many crazy adventures with Judy (a gorilla and his receptionist), Gordito (his gunslinging and moustachioed child sidekick, who rides a velociraptor), and the whole crazy-ass McNinja family that tries to kill him occasionally since they are embarassed by his profession (the doctor part, at least).

The Adventures are published online in comic book form, meaning it comes in several separate issues, each of which is its own...adventure. The current issue is updated a page at a time, three times a week. I'm behind at the moment, since I haven't been reading the current issue, but I've read the dozen or so back issues and they are worth your time, assuming your time is worth less than mine.

One more thing, like many good webcomics, this one comes equipped with an online store with various T-shirts. These are by far some of the funniest and most awesome T-shirts ever. I could not pass up this one. Unfortunately, it was way smaller than I anticipated and fits, uh...fitfully. If I order another I'll pay more attention to their sizing chart, or eat fewer pizzas topped with White Castle cheeseburgers.

Webcomics roundup

As I mentioned in another post, I read a lot of webcomics so I thought I'd post a little about that. There's a variety of stuff to find online but, this being the internext, you may not be surprised that it skews towards the nerdly and weird. Let's jump in:

I probably don't have to mention xkcd. This is simply because if you'd like it, you've probably already heard of it. Generally pretty nerdy, with my favorite being this one. Can be hit or miss and occasionally sappy.

You may not be aware of Dresden Codak. This can also skew to the nerdy but more often to the mystic. The artwork is also pretty great. Check it out. In general, this isn't a particularly funny comic but rather just has cool ideas, art and characters. It recently concluded a very long and neat story arc called "Hob," which begins here. But before diving into that you should tool around a little in the archives to get a sense of the characters. There are no other story arcs so just pick one at random that doesn't have "Hob" in the title.

Next up is Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, or SMBC. SMBC is one of my absolute favorites. It's got no story arcs or characters, just one-off jokes. They are almost always funny, sometimes spectacularly so. The topics of humor can be just about anything but expect the weird and/or profane and/or gruesome. Also great science jokes. It would be impossible for me to pick a single favorite SMBC, but this one speaks to me. One more thing, after you read a given SMBC, look for a little dark red circle below the comic and to the right (not all SMBCs have one but the link in the last sentence does). Clicking on this button reveals a black & white "votey" comic, an extra punchline to the main comic. These extra gags are sometimes much funnier than the main joke.

The next offering, Questionable Content, is a little different from the previous ones. This one is way more character and storyline based and not necessarily as funny. The artwork really evolves over time as does the focus of the strip. But the main gist of it is a group of young adults, cracking wise and talking about music in between bouts of drunkeness. It started out with a big indie rocker theme but the obscure band jokes have died out a bit and it should be readable by anyone. My favorite character, by the way, is Hannelore (or Hanners). She started off a little boring but has come out of her shell a bit. I like her because she has the best expressions, with some recent examples here, here and here. The second link is indeed drunk sledding on cafeteria trays, and is my current desktop wallpaper.

OK, that's enough for now. I've got a bunch more of these, so I'll probably do another post like this in the future.

Check out "The Crew"

In case you have not found enough things on the Interslice to waste your little life away, I recommend The Crew. It's a webseries composed of live action episodes, each a few minutes in length. It's billed as a sci-fi comedy. I would describe it as The Office on a spaceship. It has the same documentary style with confessional-type interviews and a lot of humor driven by an incompetent and awkward boss. I like it although I admit it is not the funniest thing ever. Anyway, you can find the main site here.

Anyone else know of any good webseries? I read webcomics a lot but haven't ever shopped around for shows.

Update: After posting this I dug around some more and found The Guild, which is kind of like if the people from The Office played World of Warcraft. The first few episodes have contained a few gaming jokes that I didn't get, but have largely been just really funny. Definitely take a look.