Guilty Pleasures

[Oracle_Hunter]

I'm guilty of reading some webcomics that are just terrible. I know they're terrible, and that they're not worth reading, but I just can't stop.

I'm not talking about Dominic Deegan (http://www.dominic-deegan.com/) here; I read that more to keep up with the most-excellent thread :smalltongue:

No, I'm talking about stuff like Exiern (http://www.exiern.com/). It's a ludicrously fan-service comic that updates irregularly and has gone through, what, at least three different artists. But I can't stop reading it - I just don't know why :smalleek:

So, what about you? Do you have a Guilty Pleasure webcomic? Remember: confessions on the Internet never come back to haunt you :smallbiggrin:

[lord_khaine]

hmm, well sometimes im in doubt if i should feel guilty about reading Gunnerkrieg Court (http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=267), as it on the surface looks a tiny bit childish.

also i read Devilhunter (http://edgeknight.comicgenesis.com/), where the art is good, though sometimes a bit immature/mature (cant really make up my mind about that one either)

[idksocrates]

I think there's merit to all of the comics, I read, which is quite an extensive list (http://cyphimedia.com/webcom.html).

I even find that College Roomates From Hell (http://www.crfh.net/) has some redeeming qualities, despite it's poor humor and ghastly pacing, although I pity the fool who tries to read that comic from the beginning.

[Nerd-o-rama]

I enjoy Captain SNES (http://www.captainsnes.com/) on occasion, despite its numerous glaring flaws in editing, pacing, release schedule, and being a sprite comic.

[Helanna]

hmm, well sometimes im in doubt if i should feel guilty about reading Gunnerkrieg Court, as it on the surface looks a tiny bit childish.

Cartoon look =/= childish. It's a good webcomic, so I wouldn't feel guilty about it at all.

I do actually read Dominic Deegan and Ctrl-Alt-Del, though. Although I don't think I could read DD anymore if the snark thread suddenly went away. It makes up 99% of the entertainment!

And I read CAD because . . . why do I read CAD? Well, I just like reading webcomics . . .

[idksocrates]

No, I'm talking about stuff like Exiern (http://www.exiern.com/). It's a ludicrously fan-service comic that updates irregularly and has gone through, what, at least three different artists. But I can't stop reading it - I just don't know why :smalleek:

What are you talking about?! Did this comic lose it's edge as it updated, because i started reading this from the beginning and it is /awesome/.

[Castel]

Im not sure, but does VG cats count as a guilty pleasure? For me, its OK most of the time, with some "So bad its Horrible" every now and then.

[Miklus]

Babe-ariffic! :smallbiggrin:

And I read Gunnarkrigg Court too. It is a feel-good comic :smallsmile:

[Spiryt]

No, I'm talking about stuff like Exiern (http://www.exiern.com/). It's a ludicrously fan-service comic that updates irregularly and has gone through, what, at least three different artists. But I can't stop reading it - I just don't know why :smalleek:
:

Hmmm, so far it looks kinda OK. At least the very beginning got me interested in plot, although it's indeed kinda tenuous.

Generally I think the reason for reading may lie in that amount of modestly clad women. :smallwink:

[idksocrates]

Just finished reading the current archive, and I love the comic. /Alot/ of fanservice, and the subscription to the comic is based on the incentive that you see the comic uncensored. The character's aren't fantastic, but still good, but it shines in it's witty writing, and I love it's constant jabs at the fantasy genre.

[Gez]

Isn't Exiern that webcomic that used to be horrendously ugly, but the guy got enough money from subscribers he could hire someone to redo the whole art from the start? So now the art is somewhat decent, but it didn't use to be.

Also, it's one of those webcomics that draw on the WTF appeal of a manly man turned against his will into a hypersexualized woman. It's kinda squicky.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Isn't Exiern that webcomic that used to be horrendously ugly, but the guy got enough money from subscribers he could hire someone to redo the whole art from the start? So now the art is somewhat decent, but it didn't use to be.

Also, it's one of those webcomics that draw on the WTF appeal of a manly man turned against his will into a hypersexualized woman. It's kinda squicky.

Yeah, it's that one.

I don't mean to offend the true Exiern-fans, but it is really a bad comic. All of the characters are flat, Princess is annoying, and it updates so irregularly that it's hard to care about the plot. And the filler! Oh god, the filler!

But, if there's dialogue you really like, or somesuch, more power to you. I've never found the writing to be particularly interesting, though the side-jokes are occasionally funny (http://www.exiern.com/index.php?strip_id=37).

I think I must keep reading it for the guilty pleasure of reading such a blatant fanservice comic. It's how I started with Flipside (http://www.flipsidecomics.com/), though that one's gotten much more interesting as of late.

[Lord Fullbladder, Master of Goblins]

Most of the transformation/transgender webcomics I've picked up and left behind probably fall into this category.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Okay, this'll probably silence the room but my biggest (no pun intended) guilty pleasure is...

Gorgeous Princess Creamy Beamy (http://creamybeamy.comicgenesis.com/d/20050727.html)

A bizzare parody of your standard magical girl series with more fat fetishism and gluttony than you can shake a royal jelly donut at.

Though I'll admit that's the reason I was drawn to it in the first place.

[idksocrates]

Isn't Exiern that webcomic that used to be horrendously ugly, but the guy got enough money from subscribers he could hire someone to redo the whole art from the start? So now the art is somewhat decent, but it didn't use to be.

Also, it's one of those webcomics that draw on the WTF appeal of a manly man turned against his will into a hypersexualized woman. It's kinda squicky.

hmm... interesting background story.

I managed to avoid alot of the problems with the strip then, reading it now, rather than as it updated, and also reading up to the current archive in one sitting rather than trying to keep up with current updates.

I probably should revise my statement of "good" characters to "average webcomic" character, as they are still better than the majority of webcomic characters in existence, although I will admit /gross/ inconsistancy in the main character. As a male barbarian he wore a loincloth, but as a woman, he's taken by a ridiculous sense of modesty?

I took the ridiculous amounts of nudity in the comic as a parody of mainstream fantasy genre, but perhaps that wasn't the intention of the comic.

Regardless, I still found the strip very entertaining, even if it can't compare to the more mainstream fantasy strips like Atland and Rice Boy (or Oots, but i didn't think it demanded being spoken in the same sentence).

[Mx.Silver]

To be perfectly honest, I don't think I have any. Most of the comics I start feeling guilty about reading are ones I usually end-up abandoning in favour of something better. So there are comics I feel ashamed of ever having liked, but I'm not sure that would fit the criteria.


Yeah, it's that one.
I don't mean to offend the true Exiern-fans, but it is really a bad comic. All of the characters are flat, Princess is annoying, and it updates so irregularly that it's hard to care about the plot. And the filler! Oh god, the filler!
Don't forget the special 'adults only' pay section portion of the site. The blatant sexism ('women can never ever equal men in physical strength') doesn't help much either.



I think I must keep reading it for the guilty pleasure of reading such a blatant fanservice comic. It's how I started with Flipside (http://www.flipsidecomics.com/), though that one's gotten much more interesting as of late.
I used to read that a few years back but stopped. It might actually have been fairly had not Maytag been the sort of character who might as well have had 'Author's fantasy girlfirend' tattooed on her face. That and the whole ridiculous levels of overpowerement in a certain other leading character's fighting ability.

[Oracle_Hunter]

I used to read that a few years back but stopped. It might actually have been fairly had not Maytag been the sort of character who might as well have had 'Author's fantasy girlfirend' tattooed on her face. That and the whole ridiculous levels of overpowerement in a certain other leading character's fighting ability.

Fair enough indeed. The latest storyline has been a bit more about character development than being overpowered though. And a sympathetic character died! Very exciting.

But more importantly, I've found another Exerien product: Dark Reflections (http://darkreflections.exiern.com/). It's a Darker and Edgier (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DarkerAndEdgier) Altverse (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AlternateUniverse) version of Exerien "drawn and colored by professional artists."

The kicker? They only update when they get enough "donations" :smalltongue:

Truly, this is the lowest type of webcomicry I have ever seen.

[Mx.Silver]

Fair enough indeed. The latest storyline has been a bit more about character development than being overpowered though. And a sympathetic character died! Very exciting.

Is it Crest? Because he did kind of have that air of expendability hanging over him...

[Oracle_Hunter]

Is it Crest? Because he did kind of have that air of expendability hanging over him...

No, and - Good News! - Crest does very little in the latest Arc. Since he basically exists to allow Maytag to be a Relationship Sue, this is a positive development.

Go on, read from "Bloodlust," (http://www.flipsidecomics.com/comic.php?i=427) you might see something you like.

[idksocrates]

The blatant sexism ('women can never ever equal men in physical strength') doesn't help much either.



i'm not sure if that was the intention - going from a huge muscled barbarian to an average sized muscled woman might have that effect, especially when your grappling with career soldiers. And trying to /carry/ an unconsious body for hours upon hours would take a superhuman level of strength -

Realizing that a female counterpart to the same person would have less upper-body strength is realistic, not sexist.

Now, t-shirts that say "nympho" in a fantasy genre - that's stupid and sexist.

[Gez]

Flipside has just started slaying itself.

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/7919/comflip1920vs4.png (http://www.flipsidecomics.com/comic.php?i=718)

[T-O-E]

If you're interested in reading truly terrible web-comics then go wild:

Here's a fat fetish comic. (http://www.drunkduck.com/Craving_Control/index.php)

Here's the worst comic of all time. I'm not joking, I'm speaking literally. Adult themes. (http://www.shreddedmoose.com/)

Here's a terrible gamer comic. It's like the one above only without the decent art. Offensive. (http://www.drunkduck.com/Powerup_Comics/)

[Tengu_temp]

Here's a terrible gamer comic. It's like the one above only without the decent art. Offensive. (http://www.drunkduck.com/Powerup_Comics/)

You do realize that this is an intentional parody of bad webcomics, right?

[Lord Zentei]

Guilty pleasures? Let's see...

I still check up on Bob and George occationally, even now that Dave Anez is only going through the archives with annotations added. That's probably top of the list.

Gamer comics? More like lamer comics, lol amirite? :smalltongue: Anyway, ya, I read some of them, notably VGCats. Ctrl+Alt+Del I haven't looked at since Gary Stu became the "King of Gaming".

That's about it.


EDIT: Oy, I forgot about Looking For Group. Yea, that's a guilty pleasure too.

[Raroy]

You do realize that this is an intentional parody of bad webcomics, right?

Tis better to create real humor than make a "convincing" parody. Why not make a *gasp* good gamer comic. It's been done, twice. But, it's always easier to make fun of something instead of creating.

[Killersquid]

EDIT: Oy, I forgot about Looking For Group. Yea, that's a guilty pleasure too.

Ohh yes. Such a guilty pleasure.

[T-O-E]

You do realize that this is an intentional parody of bad webcomics, right?

Yes but some people don't know that.


Tis better to create real humor than make a "convincing" parody. Why not make a *gasp* good gamer comic. It's been done, twice. But, it's always easier to make fun of something instead of creating.

It's funny when you see it as a parody of bad gaming web-comics. And also when you spew hatred of it in the comments. Seriously, the comments are gold.

[Lord Zentei]

Ohh yes. Such a guilty pleasure.

Glad to hear someone agrees. :smallbiggrin:


PS, in case you were being sarcastic:
LFG is a guilty pleasure to me, because it is tangentially WoW related, and everything even tangentially WoW related sucks automatically. This is, of course a completely objective assessment and should be taken with deadly seriousness. :smalltongue:

[Gez]

You do realize that this is an intentional parody of bad webcomics, right?

A fact made quite obvious here (http://www.drunkduck.com/Powerup_Comics/index.php?p=349761) (compare that with the next strip, which is supposedly the "inked, cleaned and colored" version of that sketch).

However, the recipe for a good parody isn't simply making something that intentionally sucks. Just because I know Powerup Comics is meant to be bad, doesn't make it good. Or, okay, it could be good by being bad if it were just, say, ten strip. But there is such thing as running a joke into the ground, and that's something they're doing.

[T-O-E]

A fact made quite obvious here (http://www.drunkduck.com/Powerup_Comics/index.php?p=349761) (compare that with the next strip, which is supposedly the "inked, cleaned and colored" version of that sketch).

However, the recipe for a good parody isn't simply making something that intentionally sucks. Just because I know Powerup Comics is meant to be bad, doesn't make it good. Or, okay, it could be good by being bad if it were just, say, ten strip. But there is such thing as running a joke into the ground, and that's something they're doing.

The project's pretty dead now. All of the readers know its fake.

Unwinder (the guy who started the project) has a genuine comic (http://www.tallcomics.com/), see the latter half and then look at the latest Powerup.

[Lowkey Lyesmith]

Exiern is a guilty pleusure.

And http://poisonedminds.com/ why am I still reading that? It's never been good. And yet I can't seem to stop :smalleek: