James

By Pentadact

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Let Tom Francis tell you all what it's like, being male, middle-class and white.
 

 

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Concerned

 
 

Concerned

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.

Comment
 
 
Dabs: OK, now that is seriously freaky. I was (honest to God) reading *just* that comic strip after seeing it linked to another forum, then thought I'd come here to see if Tom's added updates to his page yet. And Lo!

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/view.php?date=2005-05-05

... just for the line, "Don't drink the water! It's $2.95 a bottle."

Pentadact: Ha. I found it via Dave Johnston's blog a while back, but it was Craig who recently reminded me of its existence. I also like the early version of that line:

http://hlcomic.com/friedman3.jpg

Lithilk: Come on, the Gman is the best. I've always wondered where he disappears to. Now I know.

Rob: Wow, this is now my new best thing ever. Rarely laugh out loud at comics, so this must be pretty damn good. Or I'm just incredible geeky.

Thanks for the heads-up.

Graham: I'm nto really a fan, but I like http://www.hlcomic.com/view.php?date=2005-05-07 just for the Ferris Bueller reference at the end.

Dabs: "I also like the early version of that line: http://hlcomic.com/friedman3.jpg"


Heh, I'd not noticed the index page before. I love the shot of him trying to flag down the Combine helicopter:




http://hlcomic.com/hello2.jpg



Also, this sounds incredibly geeky but is it just me who's really looking forward to seeing him flat-hunting in Ravenholm? :)


Pentadact: Heh, nope. I'm actually looking forward to the 'a boat' most, though.



Today's is ace.

 		 
 

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Slim Mode

 
 
An unknown php script is randomly causing 15-second chokings of my server's CPU, ultimately hogging so much of its time that my host suspend this entire website for a few minutes. So I've snipped all non-essential elements until I can diagnose it. Apologies if you've encountered one of these CPU Exceeded screens. Believe it or not, what would help most with my diagnosis is lots and lots of people visiting James as often as possible over the next few days. Rolo desserts are also effective.