Today in "mindlessly regurgitating things I saw on Twitter this week", it's that bear thing that was going around, with a bizarre exercise in cross-promotion.
There are too many characters: either Randall or Blonde Megan needs to go.
There is no joke: the intended punchline, such as it is, is ruined by the second panel.
The inclusion of Gretchen adds nothing, except for the intriguing implication that Randall senses his long-dreaded decay can no longer be forestalled. It would have been simple enough to have one of his usual characters vomit forth the same clumsily-written explanation. That he instead chose to add a Very Special Guest Star* suggests that he is attempting to ingratiate himself with the next generation of Geek™ a la Luke 16:1-13.
*And did so in a characteristically lazy way. Remember when people like Mr. Rogers or Yo Yo Ma would go on Arthur, and the animators would draw special animal characters for them? Randall's equivalent is scribbling dreadlocks on a stickman.
Every so often I think of a webcomic I used to read. Whenever I decide to revisit it out of nostalgia, it's always a little bit sad. Some have simply stopped updating, and it feels like I'm visiting a grave with banner ads. Some have accepted their lot as an author with a dwindling audience. A few have decided to degrade themselves. At one webcomic site I visited, the author was offering to draw pornography on commission.
ReplyDeleteThe one that seems to be managing the best is Penny Arcade. I might be biased because it's my favorite webcomic, but they also seem to understand they need to have a plan beyond the comic. They have contacts throughout the video game and tabletop industries and have been able to act as spokesmen in a creative way. They promote Dungeons and Dragons by making their own cartoon franchise on top (Acquisitions Incorporated). Being a fan of Acquisitions Incorporated (and Penny Arcade) feeds into being a fan of D&D. They did more than simply hawk existing products like most Youtubers, they fused two brands together. They're doing the same thing with a racing game, again creating Penny Arcade-branded comics and stories that exist as a layer on top of the game itself. This only works because they have a large audience, but they can make the inevitable dwindling long, slow, and comfortable.
Webcomics are dead, but a few of the biggest names (and Randall is one), can make a living from their audience for a long time. Honestly, trying to bag all the fans of "Because Internet" might be good business sense.