Author:TGF
Genre: Humor, Slice of Life
Schedule: T
Minimalism is deceptively difficult. In formal art, the purpose is to focus on the pure, unadulterated elements of art stripped to the core, which is why it's so hard to do. If you're going to strip, you better have something worth looking at, otherwise you get a room full of disappointed and disgusted viewers. Minimalistic webcomics do the same thing, simplifying the comic to the most basic requirements to qualify as a comic, leaving us to focus on the writing (also, I imagine not having as much to draw is a perk). And in the case of In-House Humor, what we're left with is nothing but bland, boring panels about a bland, boring person doing bland, boring things off panel, resulting in a comic that is boring. As well as bland.
Writing
The
comic is about Todd, a character that either stays at home or goes
out on errands. The comic is based around the various annoyances or
observations that he has while at home or out and about.
Occasionally, he has neighbors over or goes to anime conventions, but
that's about it.
Normally,
I have a lot more to say about the plot, but I am seriously straining
just to come up with even this much summary of the comic. Even in a
slice of life or gag a week comic, there would at least be more to
say about the cast or any interesting story arcs, but really, there's
not much here. Even the first page has trouble
saying anything about Todd that couldn't describe pretty much
anyone. And the jokes are equally as generic. He goes shopping, but
forgets the
toilet paper. He laments that new MP3 players come with built-in
rechargeable
batteries because it was easier to swap out AAA batteries. And
he thinks that gas
prices are too high. Ironically, creating a character that is so
generic that their life and problems could literally be anyone's
problems results in a character that is impossible to care about.
That's
not to say that he doesn't have any unique qualities. He's from
Minnesota
and it's implied that he lives in the South or Southwest based on
the climate. He's an
otaku,
and he wears
glasses.
He's a fan of Jennie
Breeden, the author of the webcomic The
Devil's Panties. And he
likes
football more than most people do. I wish there was more scenes
like these because there can be humor that can be drawn from cultural
differences or making light of things the author knows well enough to
make targeted okes about. And people can see themselves in facets of
the characters, creating a more relatable character than a random
ball on a stick that makes bland observational jokes that could all
replaced with one panel of them saying “What's up with [X],
amirite?”
The
comic might as well be Todd standing in front of a spotlit brick wall
with a mic in his hands, because that would make more sense than the
current premise, which is Todd mainly staying at home or in a car by
himself and narrating
his
every
thought.
Realistically, people don't narrate everything that happens to
themselves because they can tell what's happening to themselves based
on sensory information. From a narrative standpoint, this
self-narration is a clear example of “Tell, don't show,” and is a
weak way of conveying information, especially in a visual medium like
comics. And from a comedic standpoint, it makes more sense to have
two people in a conversation that takes a comedic twist than one
character monologuing. There's a reason why the Straight
Man and Wise Guy trope is so pervasive. There's a rhythm and a
pattern of setting up and breaking expectations in exchanges between
two characters that you can't get with one. And honestly, Todd
trying to constantly make weak jokes about the inconveniences of his
life to himself comes off as depressing. It's like reading Garfield
Minus Garfield except that
making the author of this comic isn't trying to make his character
sound crazy on purpose.
The
art looks like pixel art, so definitely digitally illustrated. The
author recycles sprites such as houses, cars, people, and panels over
and over and there's usually very little detail or variation between
panels. Everything is done in a long shot from a side view, so
there's no real emphasis on anything that's happening in the strips.
This is the other reason why Todd has to do running commentary of
everything he does, because everything happens in
the house or in
the car and we can't see inside. It's also why there aren't a
lot of recurring character, because from this distance the characters
are
all
circles
on
sticks.
If
the writing was good enough, such as Dinosaur Comics,
where the same pictures are used every comic but the author takes
advantage of the template format to come up with new conversations
that complement the action of the panels, or xkcd,
in which the art is stick figures but the author varies panel sizes,
shots, and can step up in the art department when the occasion calls
for it, it could be forgivable. If the art was being used for some
intentional purpose reinforced in the writing, such as trying to
convey emotional distance with literal distance, I could forgive
that. But in this case, the art is handicapping the author since the
writing makes it clear that there's something we should be seeing,
but can't because of restrictions. Even incredibly simple changes,
such as making the windows green in this strip,
tinting the windows and then making them white for this
strip, or drawing some random piece of junk in this
strip would make these jokes work better and cut back on the
wordiness, but everything is so by the numbers copy/paste that we
don't even get that.
Aside
from some glints at characterization, In-House Humor
is a completely bland, forgettable comic, with lazily copy/pasted art
assets and awkwardly monologued jokes in the head of a character who
barely leaves the house. I imagine something like this could be
funny, but in this case, it's a completely lackluster comic.
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