WWW: New webcomic

[Andrew Perron]

On Fri, 17 Sep 2010 21:02:58 +0000 (UTC), Up up down down wrote:

> We started a new comic on the web available here:
> http://upup-downdown.com/
> 
> We're pretty new, but we're looking for feedback from comic readers,
> as well as just trying to get more people to even know we exist.
> 
> Thanks!

Hmmmm.  This is a gamer comic in the Penny Arcade mold, where two main
characters and a cast of supporting characters have small, silly
interactions based largely (but not exculsively) around video game injokes
and references to popular culture.

Okay, negatives first.  So far, my problem with it is that all of its jokes
seem to be, well, *cliches* - at least, cliches of the two-guys-on-a-couch
gamer comic.  Of the four strips currently in the archive, the... um...
huh.

Okay, my *first* problem with it is that we're not told these guys' names.
according to the third comic, the Korean guy is Sam Nang, but the white guy
hasn't been named so far.

So, anyway, of the four strips in the archive, the punchline of all but the
first involve comedic sociopathy.  More, they all feel, well, *familiar*.
The using of hordes of small children for profit, the bratty younger
sibling deflating their older sibling, the Family Guy-esque cutaway to a
foulmouthed, jerkish version of a celebrity.  And the thing is, these all
seem like they'd be funnier if you cut the sociopathy.  It feels like it's
meant to shock, but it doesn't - anyone familiar with the genre is
expecting that, so it falls flat.

Now, positives.  First, the art is good - *far* better than I'm used to
seeing on a new comic. (The third comic has some odd, cartoony
squash-and-stretch, but I'm assuming that's intentional.) I'm assuming that
the artist has more experience than the standard amateur comicker.

As well, note that I didn't mention the first strip above.  While it has
its problems, it feels more natural than the other three.  Instead of
mean-spiritedness, it uses silliness.  The punchline doesn't make sense,
but in an interesting way.

Andrew "NO .SIG MAN" "Juan" Perron, whew!