(or 'How We Roll')
PART ONE
It seems to me that I should take this time and familiarize those of you just joining us, and the three of you who have been here for a bit, to what exactly is the point of 'I Kill Comics'. In other words; what are the intentions of the "author". This is kind of an embarrassing thing to admit, and I guess it's a testament to the lack of quality to the strips thus far, but if someone were to read the (as of yesterday) 10 comic strips that comprise the 'I Kill Comics' library one wouldn't see an overall theme or even the foundations of one. Hell, for the most part the 10 strips are little more than a schizophrenic jumble, jumping from one theme to another, one art style to another. Usually missing the mark in terms of punchline delivery, illustrated by the fact that in most cases the punchline just trails off, almost as if the characters are mumbling incoherently as they fill up space in the last panel. The schizophrenic nature is further brought to point by the fact that the main characters' designs vary almost from strip to strip. Now I know that this is mostly due to the fact that each strip was drawn at vary points during the last 2 and a 1/2 years, but to a new reader (Ha! As if!) it seems overly confusing. That being said, I thought I would take the time out and let everyone know the ins and outs of 'I Kill Comics' in the hopes that this ushers in a new era of rad comics and Internet commune!
We will start with
THE CHARACTERS
'I Kill Comics' is a semi-autobiographical comic strip, meaning that all the characters found in the strip are based on real people. The main character, oddly enough, is FAHAD. The FAHAD character is a caricature of myself (shocking), he is cynical, and grumpy, and sarcastic, self-endowed with a righteous anger, and perpetually alone. The perfect hero for a feel good family cartoon! He is constantly placed in situations that anger and entice him, whether he has a valid point to be or not. He is heavy-handed and one sided. Since this is a cartoon and not an autobiography we went with the mentality that all the characters should almost be one-dimensional, that way when they encounter the various conflicts that arrive from the 'real world' it seems that much more off-putting. Similar to the mindset when writing the Roadrunner/Coyote characters; flat and one dimensional, the humor doesn't stem from them or any growth (or lack of growth) they might experience but rather the situations that happen to them and how they deal with it. Our approach is along the lines of that, except not any good.
I should point out that FAHAD's appearance changes from time to time to reflect the 'author's' appearance at the time. Hence the various hair-styles, facial hair, and multiple chins.
The second, and just as important, character is SAM. Though FAHAD may generally be the one to instigate the various wacky situations that propel the plot of the strip, it is SAM that (more times than not) resolves them. SAM is level headed, calm, reasonable, and sarcastic in his own right (where FAHAD's sarcasm stems from the actions of those around him, SAM's sarcasm stems specifically from FAHAD). Though it should be said here, because it may never be said out right in the strip, that SAM attributes don't come from his inherent personality but rather an almost, rebellion against FAHAD's personality. As in "if Fahad is going to be grumpy, I'm gonna be happy", it's almost as if SAM's peaceful nature is there only to further enrage FAHAD. Always the Devil's Advocate, never the Devil.
It should be pointed out that SAM's appearance has gone through little change over time, solely at the request of the person of basis.
Though FAHAD and SAM are the only two characters featured in 'I Kill Comics' thus far, they are not the only characters featured in the strip in the long run (since as of writing this there are already 41 strips scripted and a handful in other various stages of development.) Though these new characters haven't been introduced yet, We feel as though we should touch up on who they are and what purpose they serve. First off there is EVAN LOMAX, he is simply put the antithesis to SAM's character. EVAN really is there to validate FAHAD's rants and instigate him every chance he gets. If FAHAD seems cynical at all, it's because he learned the subtle art of cynicism from EVAN. Though FAHAD is still just a pup and angry at everything and everyone, where as EVAN is an old dog and has already come to the conclusion that no matter how loud you scream or how hard you protest nothing will change. The next and last (for now) character to be introduced in 'I Kill Comics' is BUDDAH. BUDDAH is a bubbly, jubilant, and oddball. If EVAN is FAHAD's extreme then BUDDAH is SAM's. BUDDAH is sometimes referred to as "PAT" or "PATWORK BLUE" in reference to an inside joke established by the characters, but not ever fully described to the reader. We can't stress enough that he is an absolute weirdo.
That seems to be all we need to cover in this outing.
Next we will discuss THE TONE and THE PRESENTATION.
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