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The Five Greatest Webcomic Fights
Tom Spurgeon started it all with Greetings From the Land of Beatings: Five Superhero Fights I Like. Chris Mautner at Robot 6 followed up with Six Great Non-Superhero Fights. So naturally, like the homer I am, I asked myself: “Where are the greatest webcomic fights?”
The answer, of course, is that webcomics are well known for snarking on video games and spurring internet memes, but perhaps not so well known for action sequences. But there are some pretty goods ones. Leave it up to me to provide an answer to a question no one was asking in the most trivial way possible.
5.) Mr. Blank vs. Mr. Black, Sam & Fuzzy
The rivalry between the costumed Mr. Black and Mr. Blank plays throughout the entire “Noosehead” story. We learn about their previous friendship and how their life decisions caused them to take opposite sides in the conflict over who gets leadership of the Ninja Mafia. It even sucks in the main characters, who have to decide whose side they’re on. So when they come to blows, it only makes sense that it ends up being a battle royale with everyone in the cast, including Gertrude the ninja girl and the perpetually fearful Sam.
4.) Dr. McNinja vs. a horde of ninjas, The Adventures of Dr. McNinja
One of the earliest of the Dr. McNinja fights, and one of the best comes from “D.A.R.E. To Resist Ninja Drugs and Ninja Violence.” Dr. McNinja is off to rescue his father and his young ward, Gordito, and he has to hack his way through a horde of ninjas. On the way, you get the usual silly touches like chainsaw nunchucks and butt punches. I mean, this is Dr. McNinja, after all. But it’s still an incredibly solid action sequence from beginning to end.
The Webcomic Overlook #124: MS Paint Adventures: Problem Sleuth
NOTE: A commenter has pointed out that MS Paint Adventures isn’t actually done in MS Paint. This manages to invalidate about 5 or 6 paragraphs in this review. So please treat these paragraphs as the ravings of a lunatic. Thank you.
MSPaint has been around since Windows 1.0. when it was called PC Paintbrush. It’s a piece of software that has since been bundled into every version of the Windows OS. Thus, it’s the only graphics painting program that everyone has. It’s simple to use with a few features. Airbrush, paintbrush, line, curve, and ellipse are all you have. Colors are limited to 48 selections.
In other words, it’s very very limited. It’s probably something you don’t want to use if you’re creating a webcomic. When you think MS Paint, you think of, oh, Pokey the Penguin. The joke, more often then not, is the awfulness of the graphics. If you want to actually create art, you’re probably better off using a more versatile software.
Or so you’d think. I’ve seen some surprising attempts at art online. Wikipedia, in fact, boasts a few nicely rendered examples. The result is quite impressive since most computer users are already familiar with the effort it takes just to draw a simple stick figure.
Pushing the envelope is Andrew Hussie, who must have a Master’s Degree in Maximizing Bundled Microsoft Programs for Humor Projects. Hussie is co-creator of a series of Star Trek: TNG and ALF edits, and he redefined the art of making deliberately terrible webcomics with Sweet Bro & Hella Jeff. He’s best known, though, for his efforts on a little thing called MS Paint Adventures.
His latest MS Paint Adventures project, Homestuck, is one of the most visually impressive uses of MS Paint I’ve ever seen. However, I decided to check out his first completed work in MS Paint (and the one that really put MS Paint Adventures on the map), the adventure game parody known as Problem Sleuth. It’s an absolute monster, clocking in at over 1700 pages. And yet it’s the easier than Homestruck to get into.
MSPaint Adventures update: Put … the bunny … back … in the box
I’m not going to pretend I’ve been following MSPaint Adventures recently, but can tell you that I am a sucker for a good Con Air tribute. Check it out… preferably with the speakers set to 10.
