Whither Webcomics?

"It's my sincere belief that in ten years entire cottage industries will exist that do nothing but analyze the psychology behind horrible webcomics."
Zack "Geist Editor" Parsons, Something Awful, February 2, 2004

"Hey, why wait ten years?"
Mayerson, March 20, 2004

[Previous entry: "Friendly Hostility August/September 2004"] [Main Index] [Next entry: "Friendly Hostility, oh, November and December-ish 2004"]

11/03/2004 Entry: "Friendly Hostility mostly October 2004"

The story so far:

Collin is mean to Bootsie. Fox explains his and Collin's sexuality to Bootsie. Fox drives Bootsie somewhere. Fox delivers a computer to his parents. Collin has coffee with them. Padma isn't allowed to use the new computer. Collin asked Nefertari for scones. Collin is a sociopath even in his dreams. Fox and Collin compare their dreams. Fox and Collin play Risk and then watch the news. It doesn't surprise me that Collin has a uniform fetish; many angry, insecure, insubstantial, puffed-up, and cruel young men, who would never serve their country honorably, do (see this gwbush or this one for example, as opposed to, oh, say, the tall gentleman on the left and also here). More uniforms, but now Fox adds an eye-patch or two. Of course, he could have taken a fashion tip from this guy. Nefertari manipulates Fatima into staying home on Halloween so she can go out. Nefertari is a terrible mother; wasn't she manipulating Fatima into taking the boys to the zoo a few months ago? And didn't Fatima have a horrible time? No wonder Fatima is so bitter, cranky and badly drawn. And then the idiots (Nefertari, Padma, Rafi) can't even find the party they're supposed to be at. And then, I guess it's the next day or something, Collin orders Bootsie to urinate in public. Isn't that attractive?

Some thoughts:

Am I the only one getting sick of Collin being a jerk and Bootsie being pathetic? It wasn't especially funny in the first place.

What was likeable about "Boy Meets Boy" Collin were those times when Fox got past his defenses and left him nonplussed. Those were the most human times for Collin. Otherwise, he's a sociopath and so far in eighteen FH strips (as of Oct 1), he's only been a sociopath and not even a genial one at that.

L is right; Fox and Collin look nothing like they did in "Boy Meets Boy". I do not feel this is an improvement.

I'm not sure what purpose Bootsie serves in this strip other than some kind of exposition fetish.

Sandra has odd ideas about human anatomy, thus making a naked Fox incredibly unappealing. I've seen sexier fillet of sole than what's in the the last panel of this strip.

Okay, I caved and looked at the FHLJ to find out why Nefertari is so glad to see Fatima: it's because "Fatima's a field biologist. She travels a lot, then comes home and crashes at the Maharassa house." Now, is it really that Sandra is so lazy and/or incompetent and/or dumb that she couldn't do one, ONE measly strip (even half a strip, a panel yet) to give Fatima this backstory? C'mon, Sandra, you did a better job at this in BmB than you've ever done here. I mean, I knew everything I ever needed to know about the characters in BmB just from the strip. LJ isn't doing you any favors here; as far as I'm concerned, all LJ is doing for you is eroding what abilities you used to have. And if it's a popularity thing, where you need the LJ strokes to produce the comic, well, it shows.

For anyone who was wondering, the guy in the real uniform and dark glasses is Augusto Pinochet.

In Other News

1.) You know, Napoleon, thanks for the sisterly concern about how unprofessional you think I look, I really appreciate it, but whatever made you think this site was any more professional than, say, your LJ or Sandra's comic? I mean, if I was getting paid for this it would be. . . different. And hate you? I could never hate you; you don't have a webcomic. But thanks for offering. If you do get a webcomic, please check back with me, thanks!

2.) Sandra gives an interview and says:

"Not that I’d complain if I was offered money, hence why I accepted the offer to join Keenspot. . . . "

Which is odd because Sandra had said more than once that her application to join Keenspot had been rejected (more than once at least), and Teri Crosby told me in 2002 (whenever they had the comic shop in Temple City) that Sandra's application had finally been accepted. So had does repeatedly putting in an application for your comic to be on Keenspot turn into "they offered" her a spot? Odd, downright odd, if you ask me. And wasn't it great that after all the trying to get "Boy Meets Boy" on Keenspot, she kills it two months later? It's wonderful.

She also says she's less stressed since she started her romance with Roberta Burton (I think that's Av's real name) in Australia. I find this odd as I figure it was shortly after that Sandra became insufferable. I have this opinion because I lurked on the "Boy Meets Boy" board and Yahoogroup for years, there was serious deterioration in Sandra and her fans' online behavior after RB showed up. And, no, I have no idea why this happened.

I've concluded that "Boy Meets Boy" was at its best from late 2001 through early 2003. Mik and Harley and Collin and Fox were very annoying, but everyone else, especially Tybalt, Skids, Apollo, Tabitha, Allan, Cy . . . oh, I guess that is everyone else, were wonderful. And the art was pretty good, too, much cleaner than what she's doing with FH. Ah, the good old days, how I miss them!

I hope Sandra gives move interviews. I find them so interesting.

3.) Satanists in the News.