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[Mesoian]

What, people DON'T like the new, way more dynamic and expressive art style Gabe got going these past few years? I think if anything, the writing's been a bit bland, but the art is constantly great.

I'm not a fan of the noses.

It's also interesting that the older those two get, the younger their avatars seem.

 

[SpinningBirdKick]

Never liked it.

Couldn't understand what the fuss was about.

Meh.

 

[RoadHazard]

Mild giggles on occasion, otherwise I don't feel anything at all.

 

[ElFly]

First it was the noses.

Now it is the ears too.

I suspect he has some ultra vision that let's him see that people's noses and ears are at a different temperature.

Or everyone around him is drunk.

 

[rhandino]

One of my all time favorites... mostly because the cease and desist letter and the following comics...

 

[revolverjgw]

Only occasionally funny, but by internet geek comic strip standards, it's amazing.

 

[SoulUnison]

With these threads running side-by-side right now, the "classic" Penny Arcade art style that everybody seems to love so much - the one with the thick outlines and sharp angles that sort of looks like if it was moving it'd be animated in Flash - I'm noticing that it actually kind of reminds me of some of the stuff that Ctrl+Alt+Delete gets made fun of.

For instance, everybody's mouth seems to be wide open with teeth all the time and there's one really one or two shapes they take, just squashed or stretched.

The way everybody seems to be a coke addict in his new style (or maybe everybody constantly has somebody somewhere talking about them?) is sort of weird, but the faces are way more varied and expressive.

People that are calling his new style "disgusting" and such, hyperbole much?
You do better.

 

[akachan ningen]

I think their comic strip is painfully unfunny but I appreciate what those guys do for the community and their charity.

 

[Violet_0]

frankly, this one is a masterpiece

 

[MattKeil]

While Mike has obviously greatly improved as an artist, I don't think the Jon K. style of the last few years really fits the strip very well. In particular, Gabe as a deer-in-headlights buck-toothed frecklebaby is a really odd creative choice. His expressions almost never make sense in context with the situation anymore.

The style works a lot better in Lookouts, but 2008ish was the best the main strip ever looked, I think.

 

[Kurtofan]

It's shit now, has been for some time.

 

[Weiss]

I don't think it's very funny anymore and I'm not crazy about the Ren & Stimpy art, but Penny Arcade was a huge influence on gaming culture.

 

[POWERSPHERE]

I dont feel at all

 

[Quadraphonic]

The comic grew and improved over the years. At first it was cool seeing them involved making Assassin's Creed comics and shit.

But then Dickwolves happened, and regardless of the quality (Which is now distracting from the actual punchlines), I can't support bigots.

Gabe is a fucking bully and Tycho shouldn't have gotten close to letting him do that kind of insulting shit, so he's just as complicit. And their 'zone of equality' crap is the most insulting they could have done. So I'm done.

 

[Fallout-NL]

Have to agree with all the sentiments that the art has been really weird lately (that buck tooth / vegetable nose, everybody is an infant type look sucks to be honest).

But I've been reading them since the very beginning and they've done some great stuff. Pretty consistently for a while there too. They've seem to have mellowed out a bit, but on occasion I do still like what they're doing.

Few of my favs:

 

[Chie Satonaka]

The new art is bad, but Claw Shrimp is legendary.

It's been awhile since I went on a PA binge. I should catch up.

 

[cj_iwakura]

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

Some other favorites:

 

[AgeEighty]

This is one of my favorites.

 

[timetokill]

What, people DON'T like the new, way more dynamic and expressive art style Gabe got going these past few years? I think if anything, the writing's been a bit bland, but the art is constantly great.

But didn't you hear? Gabe might have been inspired by somebody else's art! what a hack!

 

[DonMigs85]

I think the artstyle from 2011-2014 was the best. The one just before the current buckteeth and pink noses/ears one.
Anyway he tends to change styles every few years so this one probably won't last forever.

 

[bernardobri]

I don't read it as much as I did back in the day, but I prefer any day of the week Mike experimenting and changing his art in comparison of the 80% of comic artists that have been around for years and stick up in a comfort zone like there's no tomorrow.

Anyway, favorite strips:

 

[bobawesome]

I still read every update, although it has certainly plateaued after its peak in the mid to late 2000's. Jerry's art has improved as much as it has because he has experimented and pushed himself to do so. However, I can't say I'm a fan of the latest direction his style has taken. But like before, he's simply keeping things interesting for himself by trying new things, as any artist should. Some attempts as more successful than others.

This is still my favorite strip, bar none:

This is my all-time favorite strip from a webcomic. It's a shame I find PA unappealing these days.

 

[Sciz]

Hit and miss like all scheduled humor, but when they're good, they're great, and unlike most of the "two guys talking about video games" genre, they've got their own brand of humor.

 

[Aaron Strife]

Hit and miss like all scheduled humor, but when they're good, they're great, and unlike most of the "two guys talking about video games" genre, they've got their own brand of humor.

Yeah. I like their really blunt phrasing. It went well with their art style from 04-09ish.

Gabe's art isn't bad but it's weird. I think it's just odd how his style evolved whereas Tycho's writing has always been more or less the same.

 

[TheSadRanger]

paging vidcons

Spoiler

is he still banned?

 

[Einchy]

I really enjoyed this destiny one. Tells a more interesting tale than the game itself.

Probably the only web comic where the serious stuff ends up being better than the comical stuff.

All the mini-series he has done have been great. That Destiny comic is especially great.

 

[Not]

Another one of my favorites

That's my favorite PA of all time I think. Just the exposition panel and "Judas, don't be a dick" make this one memorable all these years later.

Penny Arcade used to be my go-to web comic for gaming stuff, but I discovered Awkward Zombie and will never go back.

Oh man. Leagues better. Katie Tiedrich is so damn funny

 

[WickedLaharl]

 

[cj_iwakura]

That was pretty much their prime.

Another gem:

 

[superNESjoe]

Ok, so for people talking about the art, and I'm one of them, the latest strip is a lot better. Namely, Gabe is making facial expressions in this one that look like Gabe. These are expressions that match the personality of his character. I love everything else about Mike's current art, the only part I hated was this odd childish imp/squirrel approach to faces, and mostly how the expressions didn't portray Gabe correctly.

 

[CeruleanSilver]

I think the art style is way better than before. Not only technically, but it's so much better at making the characters fun and expressive. The weird vegetable noses aren't so hot, but at least they're experimenting.

I think there has been a slow slip in comedic value, but I have many favorites from over the years.

 

[Moon_frogger]

I'll be honest here. I enjoyed their work quite a bit but after all the nonsense with the transphobia and the rape joke fiasco I just kind of....stopped visiting their site. No vocal boycotting or whatever, I just sort of stopped. They way that stuff was handled really left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[PsychoSoldier]

I go back and forth on the strip itself but I have always loved Tycho's writing style.

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

Still relevant today for more than one publisher:

 

[old manatee]

I'll be honest here. I enjoyed their work quite a bit but after all the nonsense with the transphobia and the rape joke fiasco I just kind of....stopped visiting their site. No vocal boycotting or whatever, I just sort of stopped. They way that stuff was handled really left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

I read through that timeline someone made of the way they handled the dickwolves fiasco and now I just have zero love for Penny Arcade.

 

[Green Card]

I love this one. I always think about it when I get really into a game.

 

[GhaleonEB]

I read them regularly for what seems like at least a decade, and loved the site and comic. I have nine of their books on my shelf.

They lost some of my adoration with the repeated stumbling with LGBT issues and the dickwolves bit, but I found the apologies sincere enough. Still, I had found myself not reading the comic as often in recent years, partly due to all the side projects that were going on; I think they detracted from their main comic somewhat.

I stopped reading the site after the last redesign. It's not often that a site redesign puts me off something I've previously enjoyed, but I hated it so much that I removed it from my bookmarks the day after the new design went live. It was one of the worst I've ever seen. I have not been back to their site since. At that point I was only marginally attached to the comic, so it was just enough to put me off them.

 

[Gestault]

I don't know why, but this comic speaks to me.

I stopped reading the site after the last redesign. It's not often that a site redesign puts me off something I've previously enjoyed, but I hated it so much that I removed it from my bookmarks the day after the new design went live. It was one of the worst I've ever seen. I have not been back to their site since. At that point I was only marginally attached to the comic, so it was just enough to put me off them.

I still click the "?" by accident when I want the written post that goes along with the comic, and end up on a random page.

 

[FlyingSaucer]

The art has gotten a lot much better.
The humor has gotten a lot much worse, often bordering on unfunny.

The Warhammer and the Dune comics are my favorite.

 

[EricDiesel]

I stopped following it regularly in high school (2002 or so). It just stopped being funny to me. Not sure if the quality got worse or I outgrew the humor. It lost my interest.

The dickwolves bullshit and Gabe's more recent transphobic comments haven't really made me want to return. That shit is vile. Also the bucked teeth are a bizarre choice.

 

[Freshmaker]

Never liked PA. I'm sure there are old posts of mine back in the DC era insisting that the strip was never funny.

Then they started talking... And gave Ben Kuchera a voice. Then they open their mouths again. Then they did a kickstarter for a pod cast and leeched off their fans. Horrible people.

 

[Risible]

I used to really enjoy Penny Arcade. I can't say I don't any more, I just really haven't consumed any of their product in a long time. I loved the first series of podcasts they did pre-Kickstarter and usually enjoyed the comic.

Then they had a long string of missteps:

• Dickwolves (I felt it was overblown, but I also didn't like their handling of it)
• LGBT stuff
• hiring Ben Kuchera (my opinion of them dropped significantly when they did this)
• the Kickstarter milking
• Gabe's repeated gaffes
• Too much focus on their "brand"

All of that lead to me just falling off the PA bandwagon, and I haven't been back since. They seem like cool people, they just made some very human mistakes. I'm sure someday I'll go back and check out their output for the last few years.

 

[CeruleanSilver]

I read through that timeline someone made of the way they handled the dickwolves fiasco and now I just have zero love for Penny Arcade.

The dickwolves comic never bothered me. I'm sure it's been talked about to death, but Penny Arcade always had comics whose humor was dark or inappropriate. It seems weird that this one in particular was singled out when they've had plenty of other off-kilter comics, eg: fruit fucker, giraffe porn, etc.

They're obviously not condoning rape, so why are people incensed by it? I guess I can answer that myself, in that PA reached a much wider audience as initiatives like PAX and Child's Play grew. I understand that average people don't laugh at rape jokes, no matter how innocuous they are. That's sensible, but I don't see why it has to become a big crusade of outrage against PA.

Anyways, how about some more lulz:

 

[Freshmaker]

What is the point of coloring in the noses wrong? Are all the characters drunks?

It's not just Penny Arcade. I see it happen a lot, and it always looks like shit.

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

Love this one too.

 

[Deleted member 1235]

How do I feel about them? I feel that they're totally irresponsible and careless/heartless.

Penny Arcade turning discomfort over a rape joke into profit by making and selling “Team Dickwolves” shirts and pennants was gross. They mocked their critics -- some of which were rape victims themselves -- and offered non-apologies. It was just really socially irresponsible and turned me off to them years ago.

These guys suck and they don't deserve praise.

I understand not everyone was offended, and that people have fond memories and praise of their work. It's just hard to appreciate it on my side of the fence.

this was pretty much the moment I stopped both caring about penny arcade and started hating the 'i'm offended by everything' internet.

I mean the dick wolves thing was ridiculous and only really weird people should be offended by it but they misread the response, misjudged their position and doubled down on it. But it annoyed me that the internet expected better from two gaming nerds. fuck off internet.

PA had some good stuff, havent' read it in years, but I don't remember ever hating them.

 

[Zuhzuhzombie!!]

The only bad thing about Dick Wolves was their response afterwards. The Dick Wolves comic was not offensive, nor did it joke about rape.

Them egging it on afterwards pretty much did make it a joke about it at that point.

 

[JDSN]

I was never a big fan of them, the more I see their classic comics the more I realize I just remembered the good parts and forgot about the terrible ones. Their reaction towards the dickwolves controversy was pretty terrible and soured me on them.

 

[EricDiesel]

I understand that average people don't laugh at rape jokes, no matter how innocuous they are. That's sensible, but I don't see why it has to become a big crusade of outrage against PA.

It was much less the comic itself and more their reaction to the criticism. They made the situation way worse than it ever needed to be by selling t-shirts about it and making fun of victims.