Okay, we all know straw man characters suck as a general rule. So answer me this.
Why is LH Franzibald, a character that's a piss take on Tim Buckley a more successful and less rage worthy version of this? By right he should be everything that's wrong with characters based on real life people, yet he's one of the funniest characters in Penny Arcade back when it was still good.
Because PA was still good back then, and B^U has always been a joke.
franzibald was portrayed as an absolute hamfisted hack, but much more successful than tycho.
So if I were to take the piss out of oh say..Dave Willis, a depiction of him as ala LH Franzibald would go over much more smoother than make an exaggerated hate filled version of him?
>>78678317
Not entirely. Franzibald is also a representation of B^U clearly tried to present himself as. You'd need a different tact for Willis. An over-exaggerrated version of what he clearly wants to be. Franzibald wouldn't work for Willis.
>>78678377
So, in this case, he wants to be a spokesperson of an activist group?
Or perhaps, the lead comic writer for Transformers?
I want more Sorcelator comics.
Because he doesn't have a position on anything, he's just a general purpose asshole.
Speaking of Buckley, have you seen his recent webcomic? The art has improved quite a lot since his copypasta days. In fact, daresay it looked a bit more dynamic than current Penny Arcade.
The writing on the other hand.. let's just say the most recent story involving Ethan and Lucas was them dressing up as superheroes taking on a supervillain who is a "troll".
>>78679977
Yeah, his art has improved. That's not saying much, but credit where it is due.
Exaggerated characters like this can be used for humor if the writing's good.
The problem with Willis is that he doesn't make his strawmen strips funny, they're just fire and brimstone sermons against those he deems problematic.
>>78679977
I just never read his stuff and don't feel like I have a reason to start now. That and PA still makes me laugh every now and again. Wish I had a dickwolves shirt.
>>78677975
>Why is LH Franzibald, a character that's a piss take on Tim Buckley a more successful and less rage worthy version of this?
He is? Since when? He's always been cringe-inducing authorial hatewank in every strip I've seen.
>>78678782
you know there's a Sorcelator wiki?
>>78681602
>Sorcelator wiki
>>78679977
How did Ethan return?
And also, why? I thought Buckley was trying to get away from sitcom shit.
>>78681602
I've been over, I'm not sure if autistic humor is for me. Wookiepedia is funny enough as something that actually exists unironically.
I loved the franzibald comics.
>>78682101
They were really on point back then, both satirical and self deprecating. I wouldn't say they're terrible now, they've just gotten older with an industry that's stayed around the same age, with a core gaming audience in the 10-25 range. And some of their shit was just funny absurdist stuff.
>>78678317
Someone kind of already did that.
>>78677975
Because he's depicted as being wildly successful. If he was just a loser with an inflated ego it would be eye-rolling strawman.
>>78682232
Please post them all. Those were incredible, especially considering the guy is (supposedly) Willis' friend.
>>78683378
I'll post the ones I've got at least.
And that's all I've got.
>>78685476
Literally the only good Joel Watson comics
>>78677975
>straw man characters
What the hell? You mean caricatures? Parodies? Satires?
>>78682028
To his credit, he is for the most part. Ethan and co. are now only restricted to starring in a spin off comic series called "D-Pad and Analog" where they are vidya themed Superheroes.
Taking a person who you don't like and having them parade around acting like a retard while everyone shits on them comes across as immature. It's akin to putting on a silly voice and going "LOOK AT ME I'M -insert name here- I'M A DOO DOO HEAD"
The reason Franzibald works is because the main characters can't touch him. He's seen by the public as successful and handsome and no amount of rage about artistic integrity is going to fix that (much like real life.)
It's less of a "take that you piece of shit!" and more of a "Jesus Christ, reality is depressing"
>>78686363
That's what Willis calls HIS characters, but we all know better.
>>78677975
>Okay, we all know straw man characters suck as a general rule. So answer me this.
Because
1)there is a difference between a Strawman, a parody and a clear obvious jab. When you go this far, you make clear it's a parody character and that make it technically not a lie nor a manipulation except for the most guliable persons.
2)Most people can't even understand what a Strawman is in the first place.
>>78686611
>aking a person who you don't like and having them parade around acting like a retard while everyone shits on them comes across as immature. It's akin to putting on a silly voice and going "LOOK AT ME I'M -insert name here- I'M A DOO DOO HEAD"
The Adam Sandler school of humor.
It's why Dobson is so hated too. It's so pathetic to have your self insert immediately trump his opponents and physically assault them when you control the entire narrative. It's cartoonish in its pettiness.
>>78685476
>>78685464
>>78685456
>>78685445
>>78685432
>>78685424
>>78685415
>>78685404
If I didn't know better, I'd swear this guy absolutely hates Willis. Actually, he very well may.
>>78686750
I'd say he tolerates him at most, and lets out frustrations through his comic as they share a booth at cons all the time.
>>78686750
I didn't save the ones that implied that Willis is a good writer and has sexy characters, as they were kind of off-message.
>>78680282
anon, that comic is from 8 years ago.
>>78686704
Is there a panel missing here? Or maybe some alt text or something explaining why exactly that dude was so wrong? Because other than having a negative attitude he's not really saying anything that's so terrible. Hell, Dobson himself has gone on more vindictive diatribes.
>>78686611
>Taking a person who you don't like and having them parade around acting like a retard while everyone shits on them comes across as immature. It's akin to putting on a silly voice and going "LOOK AT ME I'M -insert name here- I'M A DOO DOO HEAD"
What about something like Marshal Law where part of the enjoyment comes from that (sometimes)?
>>78677975
Strawmen are bad because the comics they're used in are created only so the author can get up on a soapbox and preach about something instead of being about fucking jokes.
But Franzibald's only a parody of Buckley in the way he looks and the fact that his career is copying Tycho. The strips about Franzibald revolve around him writing extraordinarily cheesy fantasy novels where a 90's comic-style character "dual-wields" magic wands or has Wolverine claws that are magic wands, and spouts action movie one-liners, which has nothing to do with CAD and is also pretty hilarious on its own.
If the punchline of those comics were "you draw faces weird and we invented two guys in an apartment playing video games, fuck off" then it would be bad the way Willis's "a fat, balding customer in a comic or toy store bitches in a politically incorrect way" are.
>>78687395
That comic parodies superheroes though, not necesarrily real people.
>>78687739Everest is also supposed to be Grant Morrison and Zenithso it wouldn't surprise me if there were others.
>>78687752
Ah, I stand corrected. As for that sort of thing, a one shot gag in the grand scheme of things is probably fine.
>>78686750
If you read them without knowing who Dave Willis is they come across as being about an incredibly mean-spirited man tormenting his depressed, socially anxious friend; read them knowing about Dave Willis and they come across as a guy gently taking the piss.
>>78687849
Hah!
Btw, if one were to do an equivalent of Franzibald based on Dave Willis, how would one go about it?
>>78687395
Is Marshal Law any good? From what I saw, it's like a cross between Judge Dredd and The Watchmen.
