Kid Radd - A trip down nostalgia lane

[Whoracle]

So, after the Legacy of Dominic Deegan thread sent me on a re-read of DD, I'm kind of in the mood for revisiting old webcomics that I used to read back in the day, and I remembered a little gem called Kid Radd.

Kid Radd is an animated pseudo-sprite/pixel art webcomic about a video game character from the 8-bit era. Literally a character, not based upon like for example 8-Bit Theater.

The tone is fairly lighthearted and whimsical, with (to my recollection) not too many instances of angsty introspection or trying (and, as many comics do, failing) at "deep thoughts" etc.

Comic violence, the language is (to my sensibilities and recollection) tame, no explicit cursing, and some nifty ideas on how to utilize the medium (web browsers), though those effects might break on modern browsers.

So, if anyone needs something nice to read, here we go. Discuss, make a readalong, just wallow in nostalgia a bit, what have you. Just wanted to give the thing a shoutout.



The original authors site has long gone, but there are a few mirrors out there, including one on my own webserver (which I simply cloned from the first mirror in the list, so credit goes there):

• https://www.bgreco.net/kidradd/index.htm
• https://kidradd.muddasheep.com/kidradd_guillaume/
• https://kidradd.lynxcore.org (My mirror)
• http://tangent128.name/depot/kid_radd.zip (direct link to zipped download for offline viewing - download at your own risk and scan for viruses etc. I dug up the link via TVTropes, so it shouldn't be bad, but still, use caution)

Also, link to TVTropes for it, if someon is interested: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Webcomic/KidRadd - Obviously contains spoilers.

[DaFlipp]

Oh man, this was such a great webcomic! I remember eagerly awaiting each new update when it first came out, especially near the end.

In a way, it almost worked like the sprite comic equivalent of OotS - take an art form often derided for its simplicity (stick figures/sprite comics), build up complex characters and in-strip stakes far out-stripping early "Ha ha! Aren't (tabletop/video) games weird!" jokes, keep developing your art style without ever abandoning the central (stick figure/sprite) aesthetic, wind up with a truly epic piece of art that is utterly frustrating to get newcomers into because "Isn't it just (stick figures/sprites)?"

It's also funny to look at it as a precursor to not just Wreck-It Ralph (plot-wise, though Kid Radd definitely leans *much* further into deconstructing how game mechanics would play havoc with game engines outside one's original game) but also Homestuck (format-wise, a web "comic" that utilizes tons of animation and, later, even music and/or video... though I can't recall if this was the first sprite comic to do that or if the animated Bob and George comics/videos came first?).

Anyway. Kid Radd was a blast, at least to my college self, and I'm glad there are still archives of it out there somewhere!

[lord_khaine]

It had a surprising good story in the end.
it is kinda nostalgic to be reminded about it.

[TaiLiu]

I love Kid Radd. There's a shopkeepers are immune to damage mechanic that I think later gets explored in Undertale.

Does anyone know what happened to the author? Are they still managing an ice cream shop? Have other creative projects?

[Neoriceisgood]

Been slowly binging this thanks to this thread, I remember reading this comic back when it was still active (which is like freaking 20 years ago, damn.); This comic alongside A Modest Destiny was massively inspiring for me back in the day, being two of the only pixelart comics to actually use original art (ignoring 1-2 reference/cameo jokes); This in contrast to the hundreds of webcomics that had a Bob-and-George set up of borrowing a good 90% of assets directly from games & having most original characters jut be quick edits/palet swaps.

It's kinda funny rereading Kid Radd again a good 20 years later and, as some other posters mentioned, noticing that a lot of its central plot is strikingly similar to big franchises that spawned years later like Wreck it Ralph.


--

Regarding the comic itself, some of the jokes feel a little bit dated ... but we're talking about a comic that's like 20 years old so that's not too shocking. The biggest and most pleasant surprise to me upon rereading is actually how well the art holds up! The sprites themselves are incredibly simple, going for an NES-aesthetic, but when we get to certain combat scenes the animation and use of light effects just feels slick, a lot better than I remember. I think the art looks roughest when we get more complicated backgrounds with fancy perspective and stuff, it doesn't lok *bad* mind you, but it doesn't always match perfectly with that old-timey NES style.
But some of the animated battles definitely are the best parts, visually.

Writing-wise I'm just getting out of the "radd is a deadbeat outside of his game" intro arc, which was fineee but I'm happy we're moving more towards the central plot after 200 pages or so.


Quick edit:

https://www.bgreco.net/kidradd/comic273.htm#p4

As I reached page 273 I found a direct reference to Bob and George! I totally forgot this comic was one that originated in that sprite comic community, that's interesting.


Edit #2

Alright finished my full re-read this morning, I'm honestly really surprised how well a lot of the central themes and character arcs hold up. The opening act felt a bit slow but as the central plot kicks in it does move at quite a steady pace, I'm actually a bit shocked how little of the story I actually remembered from when I first read this 20 years ago.

Radd, Sheena & Bogey are honestly the only characters I truly recall, all the stuff relating to the mods was a blur, I remember their concept vaguely but nothing beyond that.
Some of the villains like Crystal

Spoiler: final arc spoilers

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G.I. and the Seer

I genuinely had zero recollection of, which made some of the twists fun as they legitimately felt new to me.

I think a lot of the central themes regarding game sprites following their programming v.s. making their own decisions & how most games tend to have some sort of violent central mechanic actually are quite timeless, they ring true even in the modern era.

I'd say the biggest positivse for me are:
1. A lot of the animated action sequences are honestly straight up well done. The pixelart style is relatively simple, but once motion gets introduced the comic often looks plain good.
2. a good number of the important main characters have pretty decent and thought out arcs, I like the way Radd, Sheena and Bogey all develop over the course of the story.
3. As stated a lot of the central story themes are relatively simple but they make sense within the narrative.

Biggest negatives:
1. This is a bit of a pet peeve but I found it a little bit jarring every time the comic used sprites from real existing games? I think the homage/parody sprites like the obvious Earthbound inspired game worked a lot better
than just tossing a Chrono Trigger sprite in there.
2. Another small pet peeve but ... some of the super lowbrow filler stuff in the middle of serious scenes I just wanted to skip over entirely, that stuff must've been annoying when the comic was still ongoing lmao.
3. The big one: I wasn't super sold on most of the major villains and their motivation.
Crystal is a pretty flat evil overlord type villain, which is fine but ... aside from blasting her own minions up left and right she didn't do anything particularly memorable and her motivation was just kind of ... there. regarding the other major villains

Spoiler

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G.I. is technically fine, his motivation at least seems more fleshed out though his type of villain has been done so much in modern day that he's probably aged the worst, "well-intended genocide" is a ridiculously common villain motivation nowadays, and not one I'm personally a huge fan of. I wonder if it was as common back then? I actually don't remember.

The Seer ... the twist was actually kinda cool and made sense in hindsight, a virus sharing partial information that would eventually only aid its own goals is a decent twist. Crystal basically just dying to the Seer and literally never getting any true confrontation with the heroes at all felt off though ... As much as I feel the twist works quite well on paper and 100% makes sense when you think of it, it's still weird to think we went the entire comic with one central villain just to have her swapped at the final moment. I don't think Crystal and Radd ever directly interacted, did they?

Anyway, good read! I really do wonder what happened to the author, very little about him is available online.

Oh man, this was such a great webcomic! I remember eagerly awaiting each new update when it first came out, especially near the end.

In a way, it almost worked like the sprite comic equivalent of OotS - take an art form often derided for its simplicity (stick figures/sprite comics), build up complex characters and in-strip stakes far out-stripping early "Ha ha! Aren't (tabletop/video) games weird!" jokes, keep developing your art style without ever abandoning the central (stick figure/sprite) aesthetic, wind up with a truly epic piece of art that is utterly frustrating to get newcomers into because "Isn't it just (stick figures/sprites)?"

It's also funny to look at it as a precursor to not just Wreck-It Ralph (plot-wise, though Kid Radd definitely leans *much* further into deconstructing how game mechanics would play havoc with game engines outside one's original game) but also Homestuck (format-wise, a web "comic" that utilizes tons of animation and, later, even music and/or video... though I can't recall if this was the first sprite comic to do that or if the animated Bob and George comics/videos came first?).

It's kinda funny honestly, Wreck it Ralph always felt really strange to me as it's technically a movie entirely about video games yet the majority of the movie is just weird ... candy-puns due to the candy-themed racing game. Wreck it & Kid Radd have shockingly similar central themes about pre-programmed roles and how much choice characters have in their own role, but Kid Radd's humor and plot really, really are designed around the entire video game concept through-and-through (immune shopkeepers etc being a good example of it).

I never really got that vibe at all with Wreck it.

(and made a little something for the sake of Nostalgia)

[TaiLiu]

Oh, A Modest Destiny! I've forgotten about that one. Too bad it never finished.

[Neoriceisgood]

Oh, A Modest Destiny! I've forgotten about that one. Too bad it never finished.

I think Sean Howard once dumped the entire script containing the ending online, though it felt a bit weird to just read a quick summary like that rather than finishing the actual comic ... Though back then I still had some notion he might return to it, not so much nowadays.

[Whoracle]

So, "finished" AMD - I had totally forgotten that. I think I tuned out at the beginning of AMD#3 back in the day. Any idea where to find the script? My Google-Fu was weak so far.

Also, great Fanart for Kid Radd :) I'm glad my nostalgia dive got some people to binge it.

[Neoriceisgood]

So, "finished" AMD - I had totally forgotten that. I think I tuned out at the beginning of AMD#3 back in the day. Any idea where to find the script? My Google-Fu was weak so far.

Also, great Fanart for Kid Radd :) I'm glad my nostalgia dive got some people to binge it.

I'm honestly not sure if it's available online anymore, it was never posted on the official site (which is still active). I do remember reading a bit back in the day which explained Hechter's origin which was uh ... weird, but beyond that I never looked at it in full as far as I remember.
I never entirely understood why Sean dropped it to start with, tvtropes states he just didn't like the direction of the story but has no source quotes.



It does make me appreciate Kid Radd all the more in comparison though, it's a relatively rare sight to see a webcomic make it all the way to the end. (oh and thank you by the way!)

[Floogal]

Definitely one of my favourite webcomics. Time for some rambling.


One things not mentioned here yet is the programming that was done behind the scenes, as detailed in the Extras section "The Making of Kid Radd". Not only did the javascript and copious tables allow for the fancy single-panel advancing and animations (without using Flash!), they also allowed him to massively reduce the file sizes of the pages. Instead of large image files, they were tiny sprites blown up and colour gradients stretched across tables, meaning the bandwidth required to load a page was a fraction of the size. Not an issue nowadays, but back in the early 2000's that was a big deal (particularly on the free-hosting site he was using).

Biggest negatives:
[...]
3. The big one: I wasn't super sold on most of the major villains and their motivation.

I agree that the villains didn't get the same depth of characterization than the protagonists, but I appreciate that they were at least in flavour with the themes of the comic, regarding programming vs freedom

Spoiler: Villains discussion

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Crystal:
Her main deal was freedom, particularly not being used by other people. She was originally a random encounter, who existed only for the player character to repeatedly grind experience on. So when she escaped her game, it was natural she wanted to be in a position of power, so people couldn't tell her what to do. However, the extremes she went to (wanting to rule everything), and her extreme sadism (the other sprites that escaped from her game seemed more pleasant, from the few frames we saw of them), stretched her rational a bit much. She ended up being cliched, and seemed to exist mostly to be a threat to the protagonists, and to deliver evil boss jokes.

While her demise made sense in-universe, it was narratively unfulfilling that she was basically murdered off-screen without even knowing it. Not even a last-minute "wait something's wrong" realization like the Seer had. I guess it does make her tale a bit more tragic, except that she's too much of a bit villain. Crystal needed therapy after being liberated from her game, probably all sprites needed it, shame there weren't any games about talking/recovery for the Moderators to break into.

G.I. Guy
His main deal was coming to the conclusion that it's hopeless for sprites or humans to overcome their innate programming/nature, and so to wipe the slate clean, and hope that what rises from the ashes is better. At least he tried to do things properly a few times, I guess his failures caused him to turn to nihilism to deal with it. Because the failures were not fully programming-based at their core: the first failure was because they were messing with Mad Science, and the second failure was because a corrupt character rose to power. Should have kept trying, making sure to prevent the previous issues from happening again.

One thing I saw on the TVTrope page that I never really thought about before. He enjoys fighting, and hates that he enjoys fighting. I can see how that would mess up his viewpoint, chalk it up to another villain who needed therapy.

The Seer
He has no desire to deviate from his programming at all. Even when he got into a position where he knew so much and could do so much, his goal doesn't change, and seems to relish it. Is he like Gnarl, following his programming because it is safe, secure, and gives that dose of happiness? Or did he consider things carefully, and ultimately decide that his original programming sounded like what he wanted to do afterall?

Anyways, we really don't delve too much into the Seer, which is appropriate for a last-minute villain that sweeps in to take over. Would have ruined the pacing to go into a deep, complicated backstory.

Beating the Seer felt a bit empty, because, as mentioned in-comic, they won by dumb luck, and Seer making mistakes. All the protagonists did was basically just show up and shoot the Seer. No clever tricks or strategic plays, besides Bogey's dramatic self-sacrifice and the "clever" trick to get the password for room access. To be fair, the protagonists did basically barely have enough time to show up and storm the doors (even then, they were too late to stop the chimerization).

Another things I wonder, how would this comic have been different if it had been written and set in the current day?

Yeah, the 8-bit style games in Kid Radd were already dated in the early 2000's when this comic was written. So if written today, it could still be a set of 80's/90's console game ROM's that are uploaded to the server the story takes place in. But the internet is a very different place now, more expansive and connected, would it be harder for everyone to hide in their city? Would they need to disguise themselves from Search Engines, or escape into the wider internet while running from the Moderators (turning into Wreck It Ralph 2, with interet website references everywhere)?

Also a few other video game genres/ideas to be explored:
- Visual Novel games (romance games)
- Games where the main character is completly customizable
- Main character in an awful mobile game, with stamina cooldowns, or characters who are common vs rare gacha pulls
- Deckbuilding games
- Endless runners
- Idle games
- Rhythm games
- Battle Royale
- Wide Open Sandbox

I know some of these genres were around back in the early 2000's, and most would need to be cameo's / quick jokes or it would make things too busy. I appreciate the focus the author gave by focusing on the typical games of an early 90's game console.

[Neoriceisgood]

I agree that the villains didn't get the same depth of characterization than the protagonists, but I appreciate that they were at least in flavour with the themes of the comic, regarding programming vs freedom

Spoiler: Villains discussion

Show

Crystal:
Her main deal was freedom, particularly not being used by other people. She was originally a random encounter, who existed only for the player character to repeatedly grind experience on. So when she escaped her game, it was natural she wanted to be in a position of power, so people couldn't tell her what to do. However, the extremes she went to (wanting to rule everything), and her extreme sadism (the other sprites that escaped from her game seemed more pleasant, from the few frames we saw of them), stretched her rational a bit much. She ended up being cliched, and seemed to exist mostly to be a threat to the protagonists, and to deliver evil boss jokes.

While her demise made sense in-universe, it was narratively unfulfilling that she was basically murdered off-screen without even knowing it. Not even a last-minute "wait something's wrong" realization like the Seer had. I guess it does make her tale a bit more tragic, except that she's too much of a bit villain. Crystal needed therapy after being liberated from her game, probably all sprites needed it, shame there weren't any games about talking/recovery for the Moderators to break into.

G.I. Guy
His main deal was coming to the conclusion that it's hopeless for sprites or humans to overcome their innate programming/nature, and so to wipe the slate clean, and hope that what rises from the ashes is better. At least he tried to do things properly a few times, I guess his failures caused him to turn to nihilism to deal with it. Because the failures were not fully programming-based at their core: the first failure was because they were messing with Mad Science, and the second failure was because a corrupt character rose to power. Should have kept trying, making sure to prevent the previous issues from happening again.

One thing I saw on the TVTrope page that I never really thought about before. He enjoys fighting, and hates that he enjoys fighting. I can see how that would mess up his viewpoint, chalk it up to another villain who needed therapy.

The Seer
He has no desire to deviate from his programming at all. Even when he got into a position where he knew so much and could do so much, his goal doesn't change, and seems to relish it. Is he like Gnarl, following his programming because it is safe, secure, and gives that dose of happiness? Or did he consider things carefully, and ultimately decide that his original programming sounded like what he wanted to do afterall?

Anyways, we really don't delve too much into the Seer, which is appropriate for a last-minute villain that sweeps in to take over. Would have ruined the pacing to go into a deep, complicated backstory.

Beating the Seer felt a bit empty, because, as mentioned in-comic, they won by dumb luck, and Seer making mistakes. All the protagonists did was basically just show up and shoot the Seer. No clever tricks or strategic plays, besides Bogey's dramatic self-sacrifice and the "clever" trick to get the password for room access. To be fair, the protagonists did basically barely have enough time to show up and storm the doors (even then, they were too late to stop the chimerization).

Spoiler

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Yep, honestly I was largely fine with how the Seer and G.I. guy handled, nothing about them was earth shattering but they fit the themes well, actually did connect to the protagonists proper & had decent set up and pay off. Crystal's story being a tragic one could definitely work if it wasn't so ... lukewarm. The mix of flat villain jokes together with her lack of proper interaction with the heroes made the more tragic aspects of her plan failing feel kinda flat. A shame honestly because her backstory had enough elements to theoretically make her entire arc work.

[Whoracle]

Spoiler

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Yep, honestly I was largely fine with how the Seer and G.I. guy handled, nothing about them was earth shattering but they fit the themes well, actually did connect to the protagonists proper & had decent set up and pay off. Crystal's story being a tragic one could definitely work if it wasn't so ... lukewarm. The mix of flat villain jokes together with her lack of proper interaction with the heroes made the more tragic aspects of her plan failing feel kinda flat. A shame honestly because her backstory had enough elements to theoretically make her entire arc work.

Spoiler

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While I can see where you two are cming from, I found Crystals demise (and whole M.O.) to be weirdly fitting. She was fed up being inconsequential grind fodder in her game, which led to her villainy, but her actions, interactions and ending reinforced her being inconsequential. Dunno if I phrased that understandably, but for me, it kinda fit.

[TaiLiu]

I think Sean Howard once dumped the entire script containing the ending online, though it felt a bit weird to just read a quick summary like that rather than finishing the actual comic ... Though back then I still had some notion he might return to it, not so much nowadays.

Oh, huh. I had no idea. And yeah, it sucks. The norm for webcomics, but it still does suck.

Anyway, good read! I really do wonder what happened to the author, very little about him is available online.

Me, too. Privacy is his right, of course, but it is weird that he's not, like, a big figure in the webcomic world. I've read so many webcomics and so many of them no longer exist. But his was archived by others, so clearly they found value in it.

[Neoriceisgood]

Oh, huh. I had no idea. And yeah, it sucks. The norm for webcomics, but it still does suck.


Me, too. Privacy is his right, of course, but it is weird that he's not, like, a big figure in the webcomic world. I've read so many webcomics and so many of them no longer exist. But his was archived by others, so clearly they found value in it.

With a Modest Destiny I'm not entirely surprised, Sean Howard did have a habit of getting into fights like the big Penny Arcade scandal which might have soured the whole thing for him I imagine. But for many authors it's just a question of life/work getting in the way.


And yeah with Kid Radd it's just kinda surprising the author left digital creation entirely, I always kinda picture webcomic artists would stick around to do other creative work of some form, but many just disconnected fully.

[TaiLiu]

With a Modest Destiny I'm not entirely surprised, Sean Howard did have a habit of getting into fights like the big Penny Arcade scandal which might have soured the whole thing for him I imagine. But for many authors it's just a question of life/work getting in the way.

I had no idea but Sean Howard's fighting tendency, actually. But yeah, absolutely: webcomics have always seemed a marathon, and a lot of webcomic writers seem to prefer epic projects (which ofc are less likely to be complete).

And yeah with Kid Radd it's just kinda surprising the author left digital creation entirely, I always kinda picture webcomic artists would stick around to do other creative work of some form, but many just disconnected fully.

Besides the creator of Kid Radd, do you know any others who've just decided to disappear? Most of the big names do seem to stick around.

[Neoriceisgood]

I had no idea but Sean Howard's fighting tendency, actually. But yeah, absolutely: webcomics have always seemed a marathon, and a lot of webcomic writers seem to prefer epic projects (which ofc are less likely to be complete).


Besides the creator of Kid Radd, do you know any others who've just decided to disappear? Most of the big names do seem to stick around.

The biggest thing I can think of is that Bob and George ending resulted in the entire community of fan sprite comics dying with it.
BnG basically started the entire concept of sprite & pixel comics by itself with how massive it was, but if you look at the website for it & the freaking graveyard
of fan/side comics still archived there, it's basically impossible to find out what actually happened to all the people who worked on those comics.


I wouldn't say they were big, famous or particularly good, but it's kinda wild to see that entire community just die out?

Spoiler

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I could say the same about the fan comic section of Giantitp, that's a shadow of its former self as well.

[TaiLiu]

The biggest thing I can think of is that Bob and George ending resulted in the entire community of fan sprite comics dying with it.
BnG basically started the entire concept of sprite & pixel comics by itself with how massive it was, but if you look at the website for it & the freaking graveyard
of fan/side comics still archived there, it's basically impossible to find out what actually happened to all the people who worked on those comics.

I wouldn't say they were big, famous or particularly good, but it's kinda wild to see that entire community just die out?

Now that you mention it, I haven't seen fan sprite comics in quite a while. That's a really good point. I remember reading that the quality of webcomic art has been rising over time, too, so it's possible that also helped to push fan sprite comics out.

Incidentally, besides Destiny, yours is the only original pixel comic I've read. Big fan, been reading since before the reboot.

Spoiler

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I could say the same about the fan comic section of Giantitp, that's a shadow of its former self as well.

Spoiler

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Oh, maybe! I feel like Cursed is of such high quality and regularity that it makes up for it, though.

[Neoriceisgood]

Now that you mention it, I haven't seen fan sprite comics in quite a while. That's a really good point. I remember reading that the quality of webcomic art has been rising over time, too, so it's possible that also helped to push fan sprite comics out.

Incidentally, besides Destiny, yours is the only original pixel comic I've read. Big fan, been reading since before the reboot.

Aw Thank ya, super happy to hear that!
I do kinda wish I had more peers in the pixel-comic realm honestly, there's a few very, very small ones out there but you're right.
The amount of high quality webcomics with solid art that are available nowadays make regular sprite comics not really have a leg to stand on in terms of gaining traction.

I always sort of imagined a point where the number of true pixel comics would increase but instead I find myself in a barrel wasteland in that regard.

[TaiLiu]

Aw Thank ya, super happy to hear that!

I'm happy that you're happy!

I do kinda wish I had more peers in the pixel-comic realm honestly, there's a few very, very small ones out there but you're right.
The amount of high quality webcomics with solid art that are available nowadays make regular sprite comics not really have a leg to stand on in terms of gaining traction.

I always sort of imagined a point where the number of true pixel comics would increase but instead I find myself in a barrel wasteland in that regard.

That sucks. Hopefully the comics scene will shift. I've seen pixel art make a resurgence in games, and I've seen standalone pixel art, but I guess the intersection between artists comfortable with pixel art and artists comfortable with comics is thin. I guess that number grows if you count comic artists who don't use anti-aliasing, like gray Folie. But their art isn't sprite art like yours.

[Anarchic Fox]

Thanks for posting about this one! It was a fun read, and while I agree that the villains were a tad weak, I don't think I've seen another story incorporate game mechanics so thoughtfully.