Confrontation

[Genericjim101]

Why do people hate spontaneous and non perfect women? Way I see is is half these forums are sperging hard and dating someone maybe equally bugfuck crazy would be an eye opener for some.

You know how people say "don't stick your dick in crazy"?

There is a huge difference between "spontaneous" and "incapable of respecting any societal standard at all, even just basic respect for human beings", and there is a huge difference between "non perfect" and "having an ego the size of a small third world country".

Of course Erin's behaviour, put in any strictly "realistic" or "reality abiding" scenario, would get her in deep trouble very quickly, the sort of unfun trouble it is not entertaining to write a story about, so keep in mind that when people express an opinion of her they start by acknowledging she lives in a special fantasy comic world where it's okay to be crazy and surreal, I don't think any sort of misogyny is at work here.

The problem is that Erin and her shenanigans have stopped being funny.

Allow me to elaborate: the part where I was convinced this comic has fallen deep into the bad writing territory was actually during the last strip, "Pep Talk", where at the bottom the author makes an interesting rant about Hollywood insanity and how it's stupid and against all actual reason to expect a speech such as "Stop being depressed!" work against depression and how such an event, even in this webcomic, should not be taken as a stance on mental illnesses and how they work.

And this opens up a can of worms: if Erin's illness works with Hollywood logic or at least is to be considered a comic book mental illness, there should be no need for such a warning, because we already assume that, in a comic about a video game journalist talking to video game characters she can only see and having surreal adventures, one is expected to not expect any higher dose of realism than the bare minimum.

However, the main issue is that, with this arc in particular, the comic has been tapdancing way too wildly between its surreal and comedic roots and a masochistic desire to chug drama down everyone's throats for the sake of being more "adult", which has only resulted in confusion: are we supposed to laugh at how Erin's being weird and having wacky shenanigans? Are we supposed to feel for her because the drama bomb dropped and now playtime's over and now it's CONSEQUENCES TIME? It doesn't matter which approach you choose, the comic doesn't flow in either way: if you interpret it through its wacky shenanigans, you'll notice how there's way, way, WAY too much artificial drama in the way of fun, and if you get the ALWAYS GRIM ALL THE TIME glasses on, the snarky sarcasm gets too surreal for comfort.

Also, Erin is depressed? Well, good thing we had no way of telling that other than the author telling us on a rant in the previous strip! And before you point out about Erin's snark, I shall remind you this is the exact same behaviour she has always kept throughout the entire series, except that now it's SUDDENLY GRIM ADULT REALISTIC CONSEQUENCES TIME! Apparently, or maybe not, I'm not sure, it's still too much of a bait and switch for me to be sure.

By the way, her mental illness is also a huge tapdance around this realism/wacky hijinks divide: the fact she sees and talks with video game characters that she witnesses interacting with her and objects around her as if they were really there is a clear sign that this is pure Hollywood insanity with no hint of realism anywhere around, and yet apparently, again according to "Pep Talk", we're supposed to classify her previously assumed quirk of being abrasively snarky as an effect of real-world no-joke depression rather than her being, well, a surreal comedy comic character.

It feels like the author started off with something and then suddenly felt like doing something completely different, but instead of starting a new series he just decided to mash the old one into the new idea. Needless to say, up until now the results have been terrible.

Woah there buddy, someone's looking into things too deeply for a production of its calibre, gazing into the abyss abyss gazing into you and all that. I guess I've dated some pretty equally egotistical people then D :

 

[Mokuren]

Woah there buddy, someone's looking into things too deeply for a production of its calibre, gazing into the abyss abyss gazing into you and all that. I guess I've dated some pretty equally egotistical people then D :

Oh, I've dated the wrong girls too, believe me, but on the bright side they made me jaded to other wrong people, so I didn't end up getting tangled with people better left alone (though I still facepalm at mach 5 when I see a certain friend of mine keep smacking his face teeth first against unhealthy relationships, one after the other, but that is a different story).

Anyways, I was merely describing something that a lot of people seem to be misunderstanding in relation to why there is so much irritation at how this arc is being handled: when the "change" first started and Erin got her "crazy stuff" there was no reason to believe the comic had moved in any different direction than that of its origins.

This arc, and the last, well, three months or something have made it clear that all our assumptions on the comic, Erin and her wacky hijinks and how she gets away with it are all wrong. Or maybe not. Or maybe yes. Or maybe it's all in her head. Or maybe it was but now she's awake and reality and consequences are going to hit her back. All the while the author is tapdancing between hollywood insanity and serious no-joke depression, or maybe schizophrenia? I can't tell anymore and worst of all I fail to see whether this should be relevant or not, or why I should care.

I don't think the problem with this comic is that it went from one-strip sketches to story arcs, it's how extremely poorly this transition, and the thematic shift, has been handled.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Holy crapballs, Erin went Super Sayian! Kick his ass, Erin!

 

[Mr.Pandah]

Just end this arc already. Good grief. Can't you convince the escapist to give you another page for a comic or something?

We're happy to work with Grey and Corey on whatever they care to do - even if it's a story arc you don't personally care for.

I personally happen to really like where this has been going.

So they choose to drag it out...interesting. I'm being trolled and didn't even know it. God dammit!

 

[Ruzinus]

Would the few of you quit crying about the arc being "too long", "not funny"? When they started it with a new chapter or part to the comic it was implied this would be a more serious tone. For god sake, the poster was her staring down at a glass of scotch or some shit. Let the artists make what they want, nobody is forcing you to read it.

GAH! CRITICISM! Must use poorly formed excuses to make it not mean anything. "No one if forcing you to read it" aha, perfect. Now anytime someone criticizes my work, I have the ultimate defense. Now the people reading my thing should only say good things about it, or nothing at all...brilliant.

Difference between proper criticism and saying something is either too long or not funny. One must state why it's not funny or what in particular is taking too long to unfold. You already gave a proper critic in a previous post.

Knowledge of audience reaction is of excessive value to a good artist.

 

[Kermi]

I like this story arc and would appreciate it if you could just go ahead and stretch it out to the end of the year. I am dead serious.

 

[GrimGrimoire]

I, for one, welcome our new Erin overlord.

I'm really liking this arc, and am curious to see where it ends.

 

[lord.jeff]

So a gaming comic went through several pages of a character being inside someones mind without a single Pyschonuats reference, for shame.

 

[Clearing the Eye]

I'm not dissing the comic and I'm not one of the people booing and hissing, but does anyone get what's going on? Like, what's the point of the story so far? I don't get it.

 

[Susan Arendt]

Just end this arc already. Good grief. Can't you convince the escapist to give you another page for a comic or something?

We're happy to work with Grey and Corey on whatever they care to do - even if it's a story arc you don't personally care for.

I personally happen to really like where this has been going.

So they choose to drag it out...interesting. I'm being trolled and didn't even know it. God dammit!

They choose whatever pace they feel suits the tale, as all storytellers do. That's not trolling.

I understand and respect that you don't enjoy it, but you should be more polite.

 

[Darkmantle]

Whoa, you know shit is getting real when the mods come in and get involved.

OT: Yeah, I'd probably break his face if he did that to me too, go Erin!

 

[Mr.Pandah]

Just end this arc already. Good grief. Can't you convince the escapist to give you another page for a comic or something?

We're happy to work with Grey and Corey on whatever they care to do - even if it's a story arc you don't personally care for.

I personally happen to really like where this has been going.

So they choose to drag it out...interesting. I'm being trolled and didn't even know it. God dammit!

They choose whatever pace they feel suits the tale, as all storytellers do. That's not trolling.

I understand and respect that you don't enjoy it, but you should be more polite.

Oh I know they're doing it at their own leisure, since I'm sure this isn't the only thing they have to do in their lives. I just find it interesting that they chose to continue it for as long as they did. I understand and respect the fact that others do enjoy it as well, so I suppose I'll say it this way.

The comic ended up in a downward spiral ever since the introduction of this male character. I find it boring, not funny, and not entertaining. I no longer look forward to reading this comic like I used to, now if I see anything involving Erin in this story arc, I will skip it until it is over and done with.

See ya!

 

[BX3]

Spoiler: My two cents on this who lil' argument

I'm gonna have to agree with the defenders here a little bit. It was explicitly stated at the beginning of the "arc" that they'd be trying out a more serious and story driven tone. They typed that. We were warned, people. so coming back to each comic to say "fuck this arc" just seems a bit masochistic if not a little dumb, honestly.

But that's enough "Us vs. Them" Too much of that, not enough commenting on the actual comic. It's just like watching Youtube. I put this in spoilers simply so it wouldn't take up unnecessary space.

And now onto my comment commenting on the actual comic page
--------------------------------------------------------------

Here's what I gathered from this page

"So what did you learn?"

"The childlike voices in my head tell me to punch everything!"

"=/"

I gathered that having a penis can suck sometimes....

 

[mdqp]

Oh, I've dated the wrong girls too, believe me, but on the bright side they made me jaded to other wrong people, so I didn't end up getting tangled with people better left alone (though I still facepalm at mach 5 when I see a certain friend of mine keep smacking his face teeth first against unhealthy relationships, one after the other, but that is a different story).

Anyways, I was merely describing something that a lot of people seem to be misunderstanding in relation to why there is so much irritation at how this arc is being handled: when the "change" first started and Erin got her "crazy stuff" there was no reason to believe the comic had moved in any different direction than that of its origins.

This arc, and the last, well, three months or something have made it clear that all our assumptions on the comic, Erin and her wacky hijinks and how she gets away with it are all wrong. Or maybe not. Or maybe yes. Or maybe it's all in her head. Or maybe it was but now she's awake and reality and consequences are going to hit her back. All the while the author is tapdancing between hollywood insanity and serious no-joke depression, or maybe schizophrenia? I can't tell anymore and worst of all I fail to see whether this should be relevant or not, or why I should care.

I don't think the problem with this comic is that it went from one-strip sketches to story arcs, it's how extremely poorly this transition, and the thematic shift, has been handled.

I am quoting this because I doubt I could do a better job in expressing this concept.

I will add that if the blondie was introduced only to give Erin her discussion with her inner child (and to get a beating after that), they could have condensed the 4-5 strips including the guy in a single one, with Erin getting another hit on her head due to being asinine, and passing out/meeting the inner child as a result. Seriously, if you have to go with clichès you might as well go for those that work better. The situation isn't really complex, introducing it took way too long, considering how straightforward they wanted it to be.

 

[zombiejoe]

Remember when this series was about [spoiler/]video games and video game journalism?[/spoiler]

 

[CAPTCHA]

-snip-

Not disaggreeing with you that the tone is all messed up with this comic, but you've got to realise that this strip has been pretty experimental from the get go. The content, target audience, delivery, art style, etc, has been constantly changing from the get-go. It's still in Beta and while some stuff is sticking, a lot of what is tried out gets left by the way. Grey and Cory aren't professional comic writers, they seem more akin to bloggers using a comic strip as their medium.

 

[Nami nom noms]

KILL HIM.

The next arc will be her on trial for his murder, and her blaming videogames for it