Monday, April 20, 2015

21st Century Comics- Webcomics- Girls with Slingshots, Oglaf- Humor can have a Brain.

Since the use of internet and computers, the populace has found a use in disrupting their media through the world of online. Before, comics were viewed through newspapers and grocery stores. Now they can be viewed online where the world, even different countries can experience other peoples work of art. Even now, I can enjoy some online webcomics when I'm bored or just follow along to the narrative the creator has given the lore of their world. I know of 2 webcomics that I would highly recommend to people since they each offer a little slice of life.

The first one had JUST recently ended her series after going along for 11 years after starting in 2004. It's called "Girls with Slingshots" and it was created by Danielle Corsetto. The comic stars Hazel Tellington, and her friend Jamie McJack going through the struggles of unemployment, relationships and other problems in life. The series has a lot of humor in it and has a variety of characters with different personality quirks that make them all unique and interesting. What got me interested in the webcomic is the way the characters behave around each other and how they go through these relatable problems that life seems to throw at you. The running theme is the girls drink a lot and discuss sex to a degree that you'd think they need it to survive (which they probably do). After a couple of years, the stories had gotten serious while still including a little humor hear and there. They start at getting split into main arcs to discussing so and so breaking up and how they coped with the aftermath. Or the marriages between another character and how their friends and family react to the engagement. The themes are also imaginative with a talking Scottish talking cactus , McPedro, that (originally) could only be communicated through drinking, a ghost kitty that floats around screaming "DOOOMMM" and many more anomalies.

The series later become known for including different sexual orientations specifically lesbians. While there were a few gay and lesbian characters, non were the main cast before and were originally just used for a punchline or a joke. But when romance came into play, soon the lives of two main characters came to discussing how to make their romances work while dealing with their own personal struggles. To credit Danielle, she kept her characters's personalities in tact without changing them to society's agenda to how others deal with these issues. While being interviewed by the Washington Post, Danielle was asked the question of including a transgender character into the the mix. I love the response she gave since it's how I feel about characters in comics in general. She states:

"The inclusivity of sexual subcultures and unusual relationship dynamics in “Girls With Slingshots” can again be attributed to the people I surround myself with. The world of  “Girls With Slingshots” isn’t unlike my own, where every other person has some unusual kink or relationship dynamic, or doesn’t fit into one label for their sexual orientation.
I avoided intentionally adding a trans character to  “Girls With Slingshots” for two reasons: one, because I found it insincere and borderline rude to add a character solely to exploit their hot-topic sexuality. And two, because I know practically nothing about trans people. Oh! And lest I forget the third reason: I didn’t want blunt, insensitive, oblivious Hazel interacting with a trans person. It would have required a lot of carefully-written PSA-style strips to make up for whatever insulting comments Hazel would casually drop, and the cast is already large enough that I didn’t feel I had enough time and space to dedicate to such a delicate topic, one that I knew so little about.
She based the character's personalities and struggles on people that were a part of her life and she had set their strengths and weaknesses in advance rather than focus on the hot topic social issue that's become popular. I will miss the series since it was able to provide me a slice of life with humor into the mix. I was always excited to know what the characters were going to do next after the next day I read it. The comic helped me make sense in what confused me in life, that I can feel the amount of time and love in the piece. I hope Danielle will continue to find passion and love in what she does and sets out to her new journey. 


The second webcomic I love reading is coincidently one posted on the blog. It's Oglaf. I loved the humor and lore told through a medical fantasy realm using sexual references... or actions...either or. While the story first started with the tales of the apprentice Ivan, it continued even after he was "put to rest" with a lot of humor and gags. To many people I've talked with the book about, they didn't know one of the authors was a woman (Trudy Cooper). I love that she's not afraid to state that male AND FEMALES love sex and use the action constantly for their daily lives. Sometimes the stories can offer different themes and religions that people tend to not think about. Overall each page has a humorous result based on the actions that people make. 
Both Oglaf and Girls with Slingshots can offer themes of real life elements into the narrative but still produce humor into issues that one would think is serious and challenging. 


More Girls with Slingshots comics










More Oglaf comics




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