The future is great. That’s actually kind of the outlook of Concerned’s protagonist, trapped in the same Orwellian dystopia as Gordon Freeman but looking firmly on the bright side. But I mean, Chris Livingstone takes screenshots of Half-Life 2 using a free mod by a passive-aggressive sociopathic genius named Garry Newman, and makes a webcomic out of it. The result is that Chris, who is obviously a great writer but presumably not an artist in the traditional sense, makes my new favourite comic three times a week. Without the futuristic awesomeness of games and gamers, he might just be another writer who feels like he could probably do a webcomic but can’t draw. He would also have nothing to mock.
Concerned satirises Half-Life 2 with affection, though. The title refers to the protagonist’s pen-name – he’s the author of one of the letters Breen reads out on his compulsory telecast at the start of the game. That strip is probably my favourite of the many tie-ins with the experiences of Gordon Freeman, who presumably arrives a week or so later.
Probably not intentionally, the positive outlook of the main character also plays to my own subconscious desires to live in City 17. It says something about a game’s artists when they create a dystopia so beautifully it undermines the dystopian bit.
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Seriously, what are the chances? Anyway, yup, it's a very enjoyable read all the way through for the discerning HL2 geek and the best HL2 comic out there (and there are a fair few good ones). Think my favourite is:
http://hlcomic.com/v... ...2005-05-05
... just for the line, "Don't drink the water! It's $2.95 a bottle."