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1UP Takes a Look at Gaming Webcomics: Forgets the TP
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posted by: Shawn Rider
publisher: 1Up.com
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date posted: 10:03 AM Tue Nov 8th, 2005
last revision: 10:04 AM Tue Nov 8th, 2005


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Click to read.1UP.com has a good history of web comics dedicated to videogames. It walks through all the major players, from current videogame comic and freedom-fighting Juggernaut, Penny Arcade, to foundational titles like PvP and 8-Bit Theater. These mighty three have spun off entire genres in a fledgling industry, and many have made their rise side by side with the indy gaming website scene. Of course, there\'s no mention of Twoplayer, which has been recognized by sites like Joystiq as not totally sucking. Nevertheless, it\'s a good read and if any of the comics discussed are not on your webcomic radar, then you are really missing out.

And here\'s a quote from the article (referring the the image accompanying this article, which comes from Polymer City Chronicles):

\" Though they\'re the giants today, and both have comparatively long runs, neither Scott Kurtz\'s PvP nor Jerry Holkins and Michael Krahulik\'s Penny Arcade were the first gaming-themed webcomic on the Internet. That honor goes to Chris Morrison\'s Polymer City Chronicles, which began life on MPOG.com in 1995, a full three years before either of the current superstar strips would make its debut.

Though for some reason the PCC archives only extend back as far as 2000, the early strips still show markedly topical game humor, mostly focusing on what was near and dear to Morrison\'s heart: Sega and its new Dreamcast. A fierce loyalist to the once-great console manufacturer, most of the humor in the early strips comes from the cast\'s dogged refusal to succumb to Sony\'s marketing machine, then just getting into full gear to divert gamers\' attentions away to the PlayStation 2.

Whether it was Sega\'s eventual admittance of defeat, or simply \"running out of video game material,\" as Morrison said himself, the gaming humor ended before long in favor of fairly serious storylines about the backstory of the cast, which included an genially goofy inventor, his impossibly musclebound alien wife, and an anthropomorphic sidekick unabashedly introduced into the strip to fill out a \"cuteness\" quota. The change of direction for the strip is one of the primary reasons why despite Polymer City Chronicles\' landmark status as the first gaming comic, it\'s rarely ever mentioned when discussing them today. \"

Check out the 1UP article here: Will Strip for Games: Gaming Comics Online

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