UK Thing Mini Teaser 2
Thursday, March 20th, 2008This is a cop-out and I fully admit it. I just really have a lot of shit to do before departing for London tomorrow. But I think this page works nice on it’s own and perhaps it’s more incentive for you guys to come and see me in Mile End.
And after today, people that are far more funnier than me will take the reins, in what could be the internets greatest guest week ever! Stay tuned!
March 20th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
March 20th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Oh right it won’t do that…
I love Maria! ;D
March 20th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
packing eh!
March 20th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Ok ok you got me, eating cornchips and masturbating!
March 20th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
are.. are you watching me right now?!
March 20th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
luvly
March 20th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
They’re so…hairless! But yeah, there’s two brain trains here and one is certainly not feeling the same thoughts as the other. Love the strip!
March 20th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Too cute!
March 20th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
A cop out it may be but it’s totally adorable regardless. I actually really miss the Maria/Anders interaction so this is actually a REALLY nice tangent.
March 20th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Hi Rene. I just came across your comic through the American Elf message board. And I read the whole thing yesterday! Great stuff. Lovely drawings and characters. You are awesome!
March 20th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
aw she’s right anders!
March 20th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
aww.. i love maria. LOVE HER!
March 20th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Eh. Alright, I guess this has officially taken the plunge into “Sex comic” territory, offering very little else for a while here.
::sighs::
Congratulations on drawing a bunch of naked people.
As any true, ORIGINAL character development begins to fade, nudity and sex ride in to take its place.
We’ve seen it.
We’ve seen it.
We’ve seen it.
We’ve seen it.
Bookmark - deleted.
March 20th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Is…is there any point replying to that particularly shortsighted and ill-considered comment? Dude, if you’re reading this, give us a shout so I can talk to you.
March 20th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
As anyone knows, sex and nudity are not a giant important crucial piece in any normal relationship, and this being a comic about a (fairly) normal relationship, sex and nudity should never be mentioned, let alone seen!
Also, we are all adults here, I mean come on. We can’t handle seeing naked people. What are you thinking, Rene?
March 20th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Meh @ Patrick.
I would come see you if I didnt live like 50 billion miles away, Rene!
March 20th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
Patrick, do you read the words that the naked people say, or do you just see them and get so gosh darn frazzled that nothing else computes?
March 20th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
*tracks down philistine with no concept of relationships named Patrick*
*hits moron over the head with phone book*
March 20th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Take a chill there Patrick! Are you offended by graphic nudity!? Then stay OFF TEH INTERMAWEBS!!
March 20th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
Some people are just conservative like that and do not want to see too much, if any, sex/nudity. I don’t think the attack on my characterisation and writing was a fair assessment though. I think some of the most powerful, honest moments can come when we are at our most vulnerable (such as being naked). It is just not everyone’s cup of tea.
March 20th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
heaven forfend, sexual nakeds on my internet relationship drama comic, i am extremely offended by this, sex is wrong, UGH
*bookmark deleted*
March 20th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Sigh, if only I didn’t have to hear that from every girl I’ve ever wanted to be with.
March 20th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
I don’t think it’s a cop out at all.
March 20th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
hehe! I love the mutual thank-yous.
March 20th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Sometimes I am naked when I read this comic.
March 20th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
I’m not conservative, the least of which in my entertainment intake.
My disapproval of the path this comic has taken has nothing to do with being OFFENDED by nudity, or the concept of adult sexuality, but rather in the obvious drying up of the creativity in this comics writing well.
How many times have you read or heard a story in any medium that ended with a line like
“What you’re feeling down here isn’t the same as up here.”
Look at where this strip was six or seven months ago.
Look at where this strip is now.
If you honestly think that it is still as fresh (or even more so) now as then, than fine, we have differing opinions.
I guess I was wrong for taking a comment section attached to individual strips as a place for COMMENTS AND CRITICISM.
As an artist who works within many mediums myself, I am far more interested in hearing someone tell me that they DON’T LIKE something about my work, simply than saying “Hey, good job, this is great.”
Dammit Jake, you’re right.
I didn’t want to see what people had to say about my comment.
I wasn’t trying to stir anything up.
Here’s a half-hearted apology for having a differing opinion than you on the current merit of a webcomic.
March 20th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
I presume “Patrick” has been banned from most musuems after trying to put clothes on all the old paintings with a can of spraypaint.
March 20th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Oh Patrick I wish I could show you the rest of this mini comic because it deals directly with the cliche “what you feel down here”… I am aware it is a cliche.
March 20th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Also I welcome all forms of criticism. Please feel free to voice them.
March 20th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
After that “clarification” all I can say is that you have a weird notion of what constitutes narrative “freshness”, Patrick. What do you want? Time travelling terrorist dinosaurs kidnapping Maria? Anders brooding over his lost love, deciding to forget about her by joining the sinister Swedish Mafia and give himself over to the dark side by amassing an illicit fortune by smuggling lutefisk? (Johan, of course, as the determined head of Interpol who blames Anders unfairly for the time-travelling dinosaurs. It would kind of be like a John Woo film, in Swedish). Anthropomorphic cat girls! Vampire Princess Tina!
These are all really crappy ideas, but they are “fresh.” Personally, I prefer the strip the way Rene does it.
March 20th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
@JS
You are a pain, aren’t you?
I presume “JS” has been banned from most social groups for blindly rejecting any opinion other than his/her own and making assumptions about one’s person without adequate information to do so.
“Fresh” = I want to read something I haven’t read before.
This has become a strip that. FOR ME, is a joy to look at, but empty beyond that. Any emotional connection I ever felt to any of these characters seems to have adequately dried up in the past two or three months.
It is still a definite cut above the average webcomic, yes, it absolutely is, but I do not like the direction it has taken.
FIN.
March 20th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
Patrick - I think to problem with your critique is that you expressed it rather rudely. I don’t think Rene would mind at all criticism or what have you, but you were very blunt and almost insulting with your ‘critique.’
You stated your opinion, which was fine. And I could see where you were coming from. But then you insulted Rene rather directly with a snide comment. You then just repeated a taunting phrase over and over. And ended your ‘critique’ with ‘Bookmark - Deleted,’ which is basically a way of saying ‘You’re not worth my time.’
For someone who’s claiming to be an artist, I’d expect more respect for fellow artists. Enough respect not to be petty, at least.
I love critique as much as the next person, and I honestly like it when people point out whats wrong with my works — but a run-by ‘I think you suck’ comment helps no one. So don’t try and hide behind the ‘giving artistic critique’ excuse.
March 20th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
Does Anders take some supplements later or something? cause i thought he was supposed to be huge, but maria seems to be able to fit it all in her tiny hand.
March 20th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Mandiiv: I don’t even mind rude crit. If someone came in here and said, Rene for fuck sake your comic is shit lately. What are you doing? (Insert reasons), I wouldn’t automatically disregard what that person said, although I might laugh at it. I’m adult enough to filter strong language. I might draw the line at personal attacks on me or my family but pretty much anything goes here in my little comments section.
My readers are actually really nice to me. I see other cartoonists, that don’t draw half as many/or any ding-dongs as I do, take a lot worse. It would be nice to get some critical feedback every once and awhile. But I have a lot of cartooning friends that fill that roll for me.
If I make a mistake they let me know.
March 20th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
I don’t have a huge problem with the whole Patrick thing, I just don’t understand why you keep coming back. You said what you wanted. That is that.
March 20th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
as an art student I’m plenty accustomed to seeing and dealing with strong critique, and it rarely bothers me personally; but like Mandiiv I believe that Patrick’s initial comments were lacking tact and substance. that said, I am also happy to see that Rene is mature and balanced in dealing with irate commentators.
I love this comic, I think it speaks to a lot of the awkward realities and truths of love and romance.. the characters have plenty of depth and though the situations may at times be cliched, their insights are always interesting and unpredictable more often than not.
have fun in the uk!
I wish I could see the mini comic in its entirety, but you’re going to be so faaar.
March 21st, 2008 at 12:01 am
Darioc: He is flaccid at the moment. Flaccid penises are usually a little over half or 2/3 the size of an erect one.
March 21st, 2008 at 12:05 am
Rene: Ahaha, I understand. I didn’t think you needed to be defended. I just thought he was a moron.
March 21st, 2008 at 12:16 am
Patrick, I thought you deleted the bookmark. Why did you come back?
March 21st, 2008 at 1:18 am
I don’t even really want to, but I feel I really have to say my bit on Patrick’s commentary.
Do you really, actually, with your mouth and larynx, speak that way? Really? Do you actually try to cut off discourse by saying, “FIN.” Are you aware that you sound like a moustache twisting 1930’s French Villain? Or worse!
You… you’re Brian Carroll’s Litchfield, aren’t you?
http://www.instantclassic.net/story.php?comicID=76
That’s you, mate. You’re a fucking cartoon.
Slag off.
March 21st, 2008 at 1:49 am
um. i’m not going to say anything about the stuff above.
different question:
is it just me who finds this exchange of thankyous in that situation kind of odd, really?
March 21st, 2008 at 2:05 am
I have to admit, for a troll, Patrick is quite a persistent one. He still sucks ass, though. Go back to Gaia!, is pretty much all I have to say.
March 21st, 2008 at 2:06 am
…I guess if it were really good, and possibly their first time, maybe it would make sense…and they’re Swedish, so you know they’ve got to be really polite…
March 21st, 2008 at 2:56 am
Patrick, I’d officially like to say for the billionth time - good job at missing the point. I was pleased to see that everyone had said everything else for me. Good work, team.
Can’t wait to read this in full on Saturday, Rene.
March 21st, 2008 at 4:16 am
I duno. I tell people thanks when they do nice things for me. Especially when its my boyfriend! Letting someone know you appreciate them is never hurtful.
March 21st, 2008 at 4:16 am
Is hurtful even a word…?
March 21st, 2008 at 4:32 am
I’ve read from the beginning, and I have grown to really appreciate your art style. Beautiful work!
March 21st, 2008 at 5:19 am
Has anyone stated that they are really glad Anders got a haircut between this comic and the current story arc? Because I totally am. With long hair, he looks like a succulent. :]
March 21st, 2008 at 6:03 am
as someone who’s had more or less the same kind of thankyou exchange, in more or less the same situation…. yeah, it’s kind of awkward, overly formal, & out of context maybe, but that’s what makes it funny and sweet…
ok stopping now before I analyze this all too much.
… so many of rene’s visions/observations about human interactions ring true for me, this one as well.
thank you!
March 21st, 2008 at 6:16 am
i’ve totally thanked and been thanked after sexual encounters. like, regularly. what? is that truly unusual?
March 21st, 2008 at 6:31 am
I personally am unhappy with the fact that there is not more sex. I’m really disappointed that there are any panels of this comic without sex. It’s really a terrible turn you’ve taken Rene.
March 21st, 2008 at 7:03 am
I’ve waited since 2006 for a bitchy smack down on your comments thread Ren, and now I have it!! The internet makes brains go mushy sometimes.
March 21st, 2008 at 7:10 am
oh and PS, see you soon and safe journey xx
March 21st, 2008 at 7:43 am
HOLYFUCKINGSHIT GUYS INTERNET ARGUEMENT BREAK OUT THE CAPS KEY OH HELL NAW!
Aaaaanyway… I don’t believe your writing has become stale, and I don’t believe the nudity is excessive. What I don’t like, however, is the fact that as soon as someone says something bad about the comic the entire comments bored becomes a flamewar about how wrong and prudish patrick is. Just learn to accept peoples oppinions and swat them off with a “well my oppinion is different.”
Not matter how much you argue with someone you aren’t going to suddenly, as if by magic, convert them to your thinking. Any other argumentative pursuit of the person is simply an attempt at insult. For having an oppinion.
March 21st, 2008 at 7:49 am
i’ve totally thanked and been thanked after sexual encounters. like, regularly. what? is that truly unusual?
Me, too. “Thank you,” “Thank YOU” is a pretty common post-coital conversational trope for me. I also once shook hands after sex. But only once.
March 21st, 2008 at 8:44 am
I’ve also often exchanged thank-yous after sex; particularly really good sex. When one is half-breathless and sweaty it is one of the easiest things to say other than the other usual love-yous.
I don’t really want to get into the whole Patrick thing, but really the last few comics have been one-offs of Rene’s book, so they shouldn’t really be taken into the context of the current story; she’s just showing some of the juicier parts to whet people’s appetites for buying which is perfectly acceptable in this industry. Largely the actual storyline has been dealing a lot with the main characters’ backstories and the complications in trying to move on when no one really seems to want to as well as the relationship dynamics that landed them in the present situation as it is. It is messy, but hey it’s life; I think Patrick just needs to pay better attention or something.
March 21st, 2008 at 10:03 am
Jen makes a really good point. Aside from the mini comic sneak-peaks, the comic was moving away from the intimacy/awkwardness/humor of sex* and back into character developement and their daily lives. (In fact, compared to the majority of the comic, the sex scenes didn’t even take on a majority of it).
As for the available scenes of the mini comic, they make me really eager to get my own copy of it. While visually its ‘more sex,’ it’s hinting to ‘bigger things,’ and seems to be telling of alot of the reasons why Anders and Maria ended up together, and why they butted heads. Just because it features sex doesn’t make it a sex-centric story. I think (naturally this is speculation, as I’m not Rene ) that their interactions during/regarding sex may just be the best and most effective way to demonastrate who they are and the ‘whys’ of their early relationship.
Also, I think the perception of this comic may be warped in the fact that its only updated daily. Ideally, I wish it was in book form as I feel it would read much better … but that’s me in general. But back to the original point, when its updated slowly (though daily is as fast as you usually get for a webcomic), what is happening in the recent and current comics tends to overshadow the entirety. Whereas, if this were a in book/graphic novel form, the sex-heavy scenes would probably just be a small chapter that wouldn’t take too long to read, changing the perception of the comic and events pretty significantly.
————-
*Though I don’t think its delving into the sex scenes was a bad thing — that’s just how the events played out, and she made the artistic decision to pick and choose how to convey those scenes best… and so far, I’ve liked the story, so I’m willing to hang around and give her the benefit of the doubt that this will all lead up to something and that it was done with a purpose. And that the reading-experience will be better for it.
Also: Sex sex sex sex sex sex sex sex sex sex. Oh. And SEX.
March 21st, 2008 at 12:50 pm
thanks a lot for answering my question. now i know that if i ever find myself being thankyoued in that situation i don’t have to run away screaming or something. i guess that’s good to know. i might even use it myself someday…
March 21st, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Rene, having participated in a somewhat heated private Internet Argument about this comment thread and the reactions to it, I thought I should contribute my thoughts rather than keeping to myself.
I feel annoyed at the way most people reacted to Patrick’s comment here, and the way his views were cut down immediately on the basis of being abrasive. There’s a lot of commentary about how his criticism lacked substance, was petty, shortsighted, moronic, etc etc. I agree that he was being a cock by proudly announcing his deletion of a bookmark, but as an occasional reader of this comic I can absolutely see what his problem is and I pretty much agree with it.
I think that this comic, especially in the last 50 or so pages, has become obsessed with sex to the point that it’s kind of ridiculous. The fact that after a whole lot of fucking in the regular comic we’re now seeing pages of a side-story told through MORE SEX is even more ridiculous. And I don’t think it has anything to do with being a prude and having issues with seeing sex depicted in pictures, rather it just seems like a clumsy and indulgent way of telling a story that could have taken place in a more articulate way. I feel like screaming “GOLLY GOSH HOW CONFRONTING TO SEE FAMILIAR CHARACTERS NUDE THIS IS SO ENGAGING AND VOYEURISTIC” and “OH BOY THEY SURE DO HAVE OFFBEAT AND UNCONVENTIONAL CONVERSATIONS IN INTIMATE SITUATIONS HOW INTERESTING” because my senses have been utterly dulled down by it.
So my views coincide with what I think Patrick originally was saying: creativity in the development of the story and the way in which it’s told seems to be playing second fiddle to the “outrageous” nudity we’re hammered with every second page. What he said had merit. And I’m really glad to see that the only person who actually considered what he was saying was the author. I simply wish the chorus of those who lack Rene’s inbuilt “strong language filter” didn’t distort and misrepresent Patrick’s post to the point that his objections seemed completely irrelevant, as I’d _love_ to see real discussions about the structure and content of the comic that don’t centre on lube, penis size or the process of having anal sex.
March 21st, 2008 at 3:41 pm
I appreciate where you and Patrick are coming from SuitCase, I do. I feel as well that the comic has been very heavy in it’s sexual content lately. The “problem” is that the story is written in advance. I don’t make these up on a whim everyday. (Nu jävlar ska det visas kuk!) This story will end with several hundred pages whereof a very small portion will have sexual content. The story is veering towards a different mood, and had I not been on hiatus or had these minicomic teasers it might feel more fluid and natural. It is really difficult pacing a webcomic that has a longer storyline. I struggle to not censur myself though and stick to what I have planned. I urge you and Patrick to stick around. Random dongs and sex are not what this story is about even though, I concur, it could appear that way at the moment. Thank you for your input!
March 21st, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Awwww man!
Im late to a fight on the INTERNET! How am I supposed to enjoy being an anonymous dickhead over my opinion NOW?
*pout*
March 24th, 2008 at 5:41 am
I am really late in posting, but this guy I kind of know, his brother high-fives after sex.
So there.
March 24th, 2008 at 9:48 am
Oh god, duty calls! Somebody is WRONG on the internet! *prepares to brawl*
It’s actually really nice to see that Rene isn’t so upset by this. If it were me then I would probably be pretty upset or angry at the comment, and I do think it was kinda out of line, but eh. What does it matter, not like I can change the opinion of some anonymous random person on the internet.
March 31st, 2008 at 11:23 pm
[…] Well it is really nice to be back! Sorry the strip was so late getting up, as you can see I have been working on other things. And holy moly, I have a store now, can you believe it? There were some minis left over from the Thing so I will be selling those until supplies run out. Go grab them if you want over in my fancy, new web butique! You can read samples of it here and here. […]
June 5th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
No-one in Sweden has pubes.