Have you found yourself incapable of understanding the delicate subtext that transforms a sequence of illustrations into a comic strip? Do you wish that someone with a degree and a beard could tell you what was going on in these strips? Have you suffered some form of head trauma that makes basic concepts difficult? Are you now or have you ever been pretentious?
Then my friends, today's post is for you. Rather than go into depth on underlying meaning and technique in a given comic strip, today we are going to look at a plethora of recent strips found 'online' or on the 'world wide web,' accessed by a 'computer' by someone 'with too much free time.' And, as an introduction to analysis for a new generation, these strips are going to be explained -- or 'interpreted,' in the parlance of the professional literary critic -- in such a way as to be accessible to those for whom comic strips are opaque but dense literary references are clear.
Please feel free to engage in your own interpretations of these strips. Literary criticism, in the end, is a subjective and discursive discipline, and there are no wrong answers. Except, of course, for those answers that are clearly wrong.
As always, if you cannot make out the fine details in the graphics, please click on the thumbnails and be delivered to the original in its native habitat. For more information on Webcomics and their Habitat, why not contact the Canadian Wildlife Service, in Ottawa?
Let us begin.
The doctor lacks empathy and professional ethics due to narcissism. The doctor's brother enables these behaviors.
Video Game enthusiasts often make impulsive and imprudent purchases, which can quickly spiral out of control.
The cat's sociopathic disorder and atypical intelligence allows for both an inversion and dark subversion of a beloved classic American comic strip.
The tall woman is a hopeless alcoholic capable of tragic self-delusion.
The lighter skinned male -- having suffered similar abuse in the past -- takes cathartic pleasure in the misfortunes and pain of his coworker.
The helicopter is incapable of self-governing his use of profanity.
The genius living board is incapable of refusing the child-like human's irresponsible whims.
The woman is obsessed with mocking the man's masturbation. Also, she is a bitch.
I hope this brief foray into literary analysis has been educational and fun. Perhaps one or two of you may choose to become critics as well, after seeing these examples of the form. Tune in next time for more "Eric Interprets Webcomics Quickly!"
There's a typo in the title.
Corrected. Thanks, Bo!
The critic writes several reviews in the style of Achewood's alt-text?
Not reviews. Critiques. Come now, you know the difference.
Eric Burns-White gains humor from breaching the old rule to never explain the joke.