The OFFICIAL Unofficial Achewood Message Board
Achewood => Achewood => Topic started by: jay-ell on August 01, 2003, 04:47:17 pm
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Okay kids, let loose. Personally, I didn't find this feature amusing. Show of hands, who laughed and why?
I expect the features will improve with time.
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I didn't find it hilarious. It's actually a pretty valid complaint.
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I'm not sure if it was meant to be funny. It didn't seem like it. Does anyone know who the other 15 are? It'll be interesting to see how it continues. I'm predicting it will bomb, just because it stretches people's attention span.
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I thought it was pretty lame. And unfunny.
But if he wants to try his hand at "serious" writing once a week, or once every fifteen weeks, so be it.
Heck, maybe I'll even write something for it.
-- Jough
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I figured the 15 are the other Achewood characters, and that Big O would be writing for them. Just me, tho, and I seem to be in the minority.
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I couldn't decide whether he meant it as commentary, or an actual prank letter, or what. Also, it wasn't related to Achewood at all; his other writing has been, except for the TV Guide piece at Serializer. A less than stellar start to the Variety Hour.
And it only took me a minute to read, so that is flagrant false advertising.
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I figured the 15 are the other Achewood characters, and that Big O would be writing for them. Just me, tho, and I seem to be in the minority.
That's also what I thought until I saw this and it confused me: "Each Thursday Chris and his Fit Fifteen, a collection of his favorite writers from around the world, will post fresh new pieces you won't see anywhere else. Short fiction, topical essays, verse, cartoons...you name it!"
Edit: as far as how good it was, well, go back and read the first ever Achewood strip. Go on, I'll wait. Was it hilarious? Or was it a beginning, and introduction to grander things? Or was it just confusing and weird?
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It's actually a pretty valid complaint.
Agreed.
Again, I think I'm going to give this at least a month before I start dishing opinions. Anything less feels premature to me.
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I'm going to give this at least a month before I start dishing opinions. Anything less feels premature to me.
that's what said with my first post on the new board . . . but it was in a different thread
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I thought the letter to greeting card companies was pretty funny, but most of onstads comics are funnier. the letter was kind of short if you consider that a picture is worth a thousand words, and it was more watered down than achewood usually is. I have always viewed achewood as distilled, straight up humour, which just plain taps into the core of funniness, and basically makes you laugh even though you dont know why. it is just that purity that lets the funny completely bypass your neural pathways so that you laugh but dont know why you are laughing. when I read the letter to the greeting card companies, I chuckled, but I knew exactly why it was funny.
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I thought it was a bit forced, and therefore somewhat lame. But I am reserving judgment on the Variety Hour concept. I think it could be a very pleasant diversion.
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Even though I didn't get to drag my one-star rating over with we, I'll chime in on this topic anyway.
I did get a kick out of the concept of greeting cards for people who helped you with quasi-illegal activities. I didn't roll around on the floor, figuratively losing my ass. But it brought a smile. Well, a smirk, but let us not ask for miracles, eh.
What are the chances I'll be the first to get banned?
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I'm of mixed feelings about this week's Variety Hour. There were definitely flashes of funny in the letter, but the wit was so dry as to almost vanish; it felt a little too restrained, and other than the references to vaguely illegal behavior, it read like something a slightly-off-center customer would actually send to Hallmark.
IMHO, part of the problem might be that we're used to Onstad's comedic writing being channeled through the voices of his characters, most of whom are just naturally more visceral. When we're used to Beef and Ray and Teodor and Lyle, defaulting to Onstad's own voice sounds a bit one-off.
Anyway, I'm just waiting to see how this feature develops. This may not have been the best thing ever, but there's potential in the Variety Hour, I think.
(Oh, and to get other stuff out of the way: longtime board lurker, first-time poster, yadda yadda. Always meant to register at Dumbrella, but I never got around to it; figured I'd give this board a try. It's nice to be here, and my thanks to the lovely and talented board mods for all of this.)
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Has anyone read the stuff Onstad wrote for his college humor magazine? The letter to the greeting card industry is very similar to that.
A while ago someone posted a link in the old message board; I have no idea now what it was.
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Here's a google search string that will take you there.
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I agreed with everything he said in the letter, but don't know how I feel about the "Variety Hour" itself. I get the feeling Onstad may be developing Achewood to be more of an online humor magazine than just a comic. Hence the theme days. He was involved in such things in the past; it could be something he really wanted to pursue.
In keeping with today's comic, I am getting a tad sick of Ray. The joke is wearing a bit thin, so the Variety Hour may prove to be a nice distraction.
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Now I'm convinced that Onstad was just being sincere.
I just got back from looking for a birthday card for my Dad. He's a guy. I'm a guy. We're both guys. Both of us are reasonably literate and have a modicum of taste and style (ahem). I could not find a birthday card that wouldn't humiliate the both of us.
It's enough to make me lose what little faith in humanity I had left. Everything is sappy, treacly, hokey, trite and just plain old BAD. And do they offer just plain old blank cards with some lovely art on the outside so you can write your own heartfelt birthday message. No. No. and NO!
And while I'm on the subject...
What. The. Fuck. is up with the price of greeting cards. $2.49 for a half-sheet of bond paper with a bad painting and worse poetry. That's just wrong.
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as far as how good it was, well, go back and read the first ever Achewood strip. Go on, I'll wait. Was it hilarious? Or was it a beginning, and introduction to grander things? Or was it just confusing and weird?
Confusing and weird, perhaps, but also the most surreally funny strip of the entire run.
~Paul
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This may be pretty harsh of me to say, but Onstad's first Variety Hour post reminded me of the unfunny stuff at McSweeny's.
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I have <hated> shopping for greeting cards my whole life. I generally do buy blank ones and write whatever is appropriate. Maybe the general population is either too rushed or too insincere to do this - the card companies are sure to be marketing to some kind of fat, soft middle of the bell curve, right?
I think maybe Onstad took a potentially really funny topic, made a few points that could have been better fleshed out, and went to print before the piece was afforded a well-deserved edit and re-write. It had funny bits but it wasn't terribly funny. I liked it from the standpoint of observational humor... I guess.
That said, those of you giving it a month to reserve judgment: good for you. I'm with you. I think the sentence ("punch line") "Phillippe is standing on it" says it all for the moment.
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I like those "Intuitions" cards. They are usually funny without being mean, and the blank ones are especially nice for those "thanks for the discount on crack cocaine" or "I had an especially nice time feeling you up anonymously in a back alley" occasions.
Last year I gave my husband one with a picture of a plastic dinosaur biting a little boy's nose. It was adorable.
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This may be pretty harsh of me to say, but Onstad's first Variety Hour post reminded me of the unfunny stuff at McSweeny's.
I dunno, I actually had the same thought. Here we have this very dry, sort of faux-literary piece... and, though it is a bit of a harsh comparison to make, I thought of Beef and Molly talking about the literary establishment playing in a near-dead medium it can no longer understand or resurrect.
Let's hope it shakes off the McSweeney's vibe over time.
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Last year I gave my husband one with a picture of a plastic dinosaur biting a little boy's nose. It was adorable.
I have used that card about six times now, for everything from birthdays to Father's Day to wedding congratulations. I've yet to use it for a funeral, but I'm patient.
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This may be pretty harsh of me to say, but Onstad's first Variety Hour post reminded me of the unfunny stuff at McSweeny's.
I dunno, I actually had the same thought. Here we have this very dry, sort of faux-literary piece... and, though it is a bit of a harsh comparison to make, I thought of Beef and Molly talking about the literary establishment playing in a near-dead medium it can no longer understand or resurrect.
Let's hope it shakes off the McSweeney's vibe over time.
I thought the EXACT SAME THING. I spent over two (2) hours last night reading the archives, chronologically, to find that strip to link to it from here (ah, good times) but since I started at the beginning I just gave up around late June 2002.
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I've always been partial to the square cards you find at Hallmark. Ones that say things like "1) It's your birthday. 2) The cows are not yet home. You know what to do."
Although my personal favorite card looked like this—
Front: IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY! I GOT YOU A CARD!
Inside: THIS IS THE INSIDE!
Back: HERE'S THE BACK!!!
(Hmm, is this on topic enough? Maybe I should ask to have myself locked)
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Close enough. Carry on.
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I didn't think the greeting card deal was hilarious, but I'm thankful it's not always the same old thing from Achewood. I mean, I like diesel sweeties, but there's never anything particularly surprising in it. At least Achewood is mutable. For those of you who read other webcomics, is there any artist out there you can foresee putting out a cookbook? Or doing something like the Nate Small series?
The thing that really amuses me is RStevens complaining about Onstad's output. It seems to me that Onstad has a few more irons in the fire, so to speak. (When I started posting to Duumbrella, I was taken with the concept that the producer of something that I really loved would actually take time to read my opinions about his (or her) output. I don't get that from, say, John Woo or Andrew Vachss or Stevie Wonder.) I would be reluctant to complain about Onstad's output even if it were one strip a month, given that it's free. Of course, I'm really happy right now anyway because of other things that are going on, so that might be spilling over.
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The only other cartoonist I can think of who does different stuff, though even then not to the extent Onstad does, would be my other favourite - Drew Weing. Things like the vintage Pup spoofed to be by an artist from the 1920's was just beautiful.
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I thought the EXACT SAME THING. I spent over two (2) hours last night reading the archives, chronologically, to find that strip to link to it from here (ah, good times) but since I started at the beginning I just gave up around late June 2002.
Dude, that strip was from like, a month ago.
Why not start at the present and go backwards, or just read the little titles in the Archives. I think that one was called "Molly McSweeneys" or something.
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what can I say? I was bored anyway. I tend to do things that make very little sense.
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heh.
I'm with the people who reached the McSweeny's conclusion. Funny that. Man, McSweeny's can be great, but when it isnt, it is just vastly saddening. This is much the same idea. We have all seen the lofty hights onstad's work can reach, and this aint it.
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I agreed with everything he said in the letter, but don't know how I feel about the "Variety Hour" itself. I get the feeling Onstad may be developing Achewood to be more of an online humor magazine than just a comic. Hence the theme days. He was involved in such things in the past; it could be something he really wanted to pursue.
In keeping with today's comic, I am getting a tad sick of Ray. The joke is wearing a bit thin, so the Variety Hour may prove to be a nice distraction.
I pretty much thought the same thing. I was not moved by the 'Open Letter' but will give it time to warm up. I was wondering if the ideas behind "Ray's Place" and the "Variety Hour" were put into strip form (like the regular Achewood strip), would they be funnier? I think they would. I wonder if it is just too much of a pain in the ass to illustrate a new strip every day of the week. It seems like each letter and column that Onstad writes could be funneled into a weeks worth of strips. Maybe he just likes the variety.
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A lot of you are getting on rsteven's case for it's not being as ... I dunno ... versatile as Achewood. True, but I never thought that was r's aim. Maybe DS isn't everyone's cup of tea, but you gotta say something for the guy who has put out a daily comic every day for three years. Not every one's a winner, but they all exhibit a certain level of quality. I don't feel I can say that about Achewood, which has not gone for as long and does not have the same consistency. Why is it every time Onstad skips a comic I feel like it's my fault? That's just not right. If he wants to do something different with his site, then so be it. But these changes, and columns, and sometimes lame comics are beginning to try my patience.
And to get back on topic (uh ... sort of): Shopping for a father's day card is unbearable. Not every dad golfs, sucks at handyman work, is a walking ATM or is a lazy slob who sits in front of the television all day. This leaves me with very few options for father's day, and frankly, sometimes I just skip the card.