Maneggs
February 1, 2010 6:26 PM Subscribe
Maneggs. is a web comic that is occasionally NSFW.
Eh. A few of them were mildy humorous but mostly the ones I looked at weren't very funny. Maybe my sense of humor isn't sadistic enough.
posted by DMan at 6:32 PM on February 1, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by DMan at 6:32 PM on February 1, 2010 [2 favorites]
Well, we killed it.
posted by Navelgazer at 6:34 PM on February 1, 2010
posted by Navelgazer at 6:34 PM on February 1, 2010
I'm getting a distinct "Robot Chicken" vibe -- 80% of the punchlines involve ultraviolence and swearing.
It's possible, however, that I'm just very old.
posted by The Tensor at 6:35 PM on February 1, 2010 [4 favorites]
It's possible, however, that I'm just very old.
posted by The Tensor at 6:35 PM on February 1, 2010 [4 favorites]
Occasionally NSFW and never funny.
FFFFF------- WOULD NOT DEAL WITH AGAIN
posted by barnacles at 6:36 PM on February 1, 2010
FFFFF------- WOULD NOT DEAL WITH AGAIN
posted by barnacles at 6:36 PM on February 1, 2010
You're okay Tenser. I am A Youth and I think it's largely hit or miss.
posted by The Whelk at 6:43 PM on February 1, 2010
posted by The Whelk at 6:43 PM on February 1, 2010
I'm getting a distinct "Robot Chicken" vibe
Sometimes clicking the [+] button just isn't enough. You, sir, nailed it.
posted by bpm140 at 6:44 PM on February 1, 2010
Sometimes clicking the [+] button just isn't enough. You, sir, nailed it.
posted by bpm140 at 6:44 PM on February 1, 2010
Doesn’t seem to cover much new ground.
posted by stilist at 6:46 PM on February 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by stilist at 6:46 PM on February 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
The Oscar the Grouch one is far and away the best comic.
It works especially well because the "Oscars" are clearly the same species as Oscar the Grouch only in retrospect. Like a good Perry Bible Fellowship comic, the final panel is strangely, but unexpectedly, logical.
The rest are meh. Too many of the punchlines are just about death.
posted by Sticherbeast at 6:47 PM on February 1, 2010 [2 favorites]
It works especially well because the "Oscars" are clearly the same species as Oscar the Grouch only in retrospect. Like a good Perry Bible Fellowship comic, the final panel is strangely, but unexpectedly, logical.
The rest are meh. Too many of the punchlines are just about death.
posted by Sticherbeast at 6:47 PM on February 1, 2010 [2 favorites]
I like Scooby in the last panel of this one.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:50 PM on February 1, 2010
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:50 PM on February 1, 2010
It started off solid and then it seems like they ran out of ideas pretty fast.
posted by dunkadunc at 6:59 PM on February 1, 2010
posted by dunkadunc at 6:59 PM on February 1, 2010
God's Control Panel ought to have "Thou Shalt" and "Thou Shalt Not" buttons instead of "Allow" and "Deny". Also, it really needs a "Hot Hail" button.
posted by The Tensor at 7:00 PM on February 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by The Tensor at 7:00 PM on February 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
Spoiler: They all die in the end.
posted by nola at 7:03 PM on February 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by nola at 7:03 PM on February 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
It did remind me of Perry Bible Fellowship, complete with different art styles, but then it seemed to stagnate on this rather poor line drawn paintbrush stuff.
And the jokes got less and less funny.
posted by delmoi at 7:05 PM on February 1, 2010 [2 favorites]
And the jokes got less and less funny.
posted by delmoi at 7:05 PM on February 1, 2010 [2 favorites]
I'm glad I'm not the only one who didn't find them funny. :P
posted by zarq at 7:19 PM on February 1, 2010
posted by zarq at 7:19 PM on February 1, 2010
I think I prefer Invisible Hair Suit for the "comics about really horrible things" genre.
posted by rivenwanderer at 7:26 PM on February 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by rivenwanderer at 7:26 PM on February 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
I found a few of them funny... but, why did the art get worse? Most comics go from black-and-white line drawings to full-color renderings. Why did this one do the opposite?
posted by Netzapper at 7:28 PM on February 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Netzapper at 7:28 PM on February 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
ahhh... to be 14 again...
posted by HuronBob at 7:28 PM on February 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by HuronBob at 7:28 PM on February 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
The comics get worse over time because the archives are posted in reverse order. Check the dates in the URLs.
So hey, they're getting better.
posted by ZaphodB at 7:41 PM on February 1, 2010
So hey, they're getting better.
posted by ZaphodB at 7:41 PM on February 1, 2010
Yeah, not nearly consistently good enough to put in the ol' webcomics blogroll. The Oscar one was cute, though, and I've seen the God's Control Panel one before as well.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:44 PM on February 1, 2010
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:44 PM on February 1, 2010
jessamyn: "DO NOT USE."
[YES YOU CAN EAT THIS]
[NO, YOU CAN'T EAT THIS]
[ AND NOW YOU WILL DIE]
So God has custom buttons just for AskMe?
posted by Hardcore Poser at 7:50 PM on February 1, 2010 [2 favorites]
[YES YOU CAN EAT THIS]
[NO, YOU CAN'T EAT THIS]
[ AND NOW YOU WILL DIE]
So God has custom buttons just for AskMe?
posted by Hardcore Poser at 7:50 PM on February 1, 2010 [2 favorites]
For a minute, I blanked on the whole Adam and Eve thing and I was like "Yes! Of course! The moderator control panel! But why is this stranger making AskMe-type can-I-eat-this jokes?"
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:50 PM on February 1, 2010
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:50 PM on February 1, 2010
Boring. OGLAF is still my choice for consistently dirty but occasionally funny comics.
posted by anthill at 7:51 PM on February 1, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by anthill at 7:51 PM on February 1, 2010 [3 favorites]
DAMMIT!
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:51 PM on February 1, 2010
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:51 PM on February 1, 2010
You know, any one of these might have been funny on its own. But there's to much sameness from page to page. A joke that was mildly funny once isn't going to be great at amusing a second time.
posted by Astro Zombie at 8:12 PM on February 1, 2010
posted by Astro Zombie at 8:12 PM on February 1, 2010
Okay, this is fucking hilarious.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 8:57 PM on February 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 8:57 PM on February 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
Wow, figures of speech sure are misleading in hilarious ways.
posted by hermitosis at 10:00 PM on February 1, 2010
posted by hermitosis at 10:00 PM on February 1, 2010
I wouldn't have guessed that it was going to do so, but PBF really defined a webcomics genre and has spawned a whole host of mostly awful imitators. This comic, Amazing Super Powers, Truck Bearing Kibble, etc. The influence is undeniable; they all have the same cadence and rhythm as PBF (usually consisting of mundanity followed a shocking, wordless, and inappropriate final panel). But they're all really clumsy in comparison, and don't have a good handle on how to play the shock without going overboard.
The only one I really like is chainsawsuit. That's definitely got the PBF feel, but it doesn't feel like a total ripoff or a vastly lesser comic.
posted by painquale at 10:13 PM on February 1, 2010 [2 favorites]
The only one I really like is chainsawsuit. That's definitely got the PBF feel, but it doesn't feel like a total ripoff or a vastly lesser comic.
posted by painquale at 10:13 PM on February 1, 2010 [2 favorites]
This is where I mourn the fact that Truck Bearing Kibble hasn't updated in almost a year and its last strip involved farting rainbows, and where I note that chainsawsuit, while entertainingly random, is just the hastily-drawn brain farts of Kris Straub, who also does the more carefully drafted Starslip, which is still my second favorite funny space sci-fi webcomic.
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:27 PM on February 1, 2010
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:27 PM on February 1, 2010
And Maneggs is 1/10 the comic PBF was and 1/5 the comic TBK was, but is showing potential... a lot of pretty good comics started out 'meh', but the great ones were mostly great from the first three months at the latest.
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:31 PM on February 1, 2010
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:31 PM on February 1, 2010
It started off solid and then it seems like they ran out of ideas pretty fast.
Aren't you looking at it in reverse-chronological order like the rest of us?
posted by thejoshu at 10:39 PM on February 1, 2010
Aren't you looking at it in reverse-chronological order like the rest of us?
posted by thejoshu at 10:39 PM on February 1, 2010
*sigh* Crap like this makes me mourn once again the passing of Perry Bible Fellowship and The Parking Lot is Full.
posted by happyroach at 11:02 PM on February 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by happyroach at 11:02 PM on February 1, 2010 [1 favorite]
Well, to be fair, sciurus didn't promise it'd be good. The ones I read were ok, a bit too dependent on cliche jokes or PBF-style shockers.
What a weird way to do archives.
posted by graventy at 11:13 PM on February 1, 2010
What a weird way to do archives.
posted by graventy at 11:13 PM on February 1, 2010
It sorta has a Perry Bible Fellowship vibe, except PBF is a great comic and this is bad. It's also as if a baby boomer wrote it, because all the references are to things from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. That also makes it bad.
posted by colinshark at 5:00 AM on February 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by colinshark at 5:00 AM on February 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
I was really hoping for a new webcomic to add to my RSS list, but this isn't it.
posted by paisley henosis at 7:11 AM on February 2, 2010
posted by paisley henosis at 7:11 AM on February 2, 2010
Baby boomers referring to the 80's??? Do kids these days think everyone over the age of 30 is a boomer?
posted by smoothvirus at 7:40 AM on February 2, 2010
posted by smoothvirus at 7:40 AM on February 2, 2010
OK, slight derail: what ever happened to TPRF?
(Clearly, I'm too fucking lazy to google.)
posted by IAmBroom at 8:30 AM on February 2, 2010
(Clearly, I'm too fucking lazy to google.)
posted by IAmBroom at 8:30 AM on February 2, 2010
If y'all even liked one of those comics, I'm satisfied.
posted by sciurus at 8:37 AM on February 2, 2010
posted by sciurus at 8:37 AM on February 2, 2010
Honestly, I think doing this sort of strip would be really, really fucking hard. Most strips (and most tv comedies, as far as that goes) depend on a stable cast of characters as the basis for the humor. The jokes grow from character, and sometimes from continuity. Going PBF-style, you lose that, and have to be able to come up with something completely new and funny each. fuck. time. Moreover, the PBF-style subgenre seems to skew towards just having one panel; they'll go to 4 panels occasionally, but not often. That's not much space to work with (and I think that's why a lot of these-- including Maneggs, from what I can see-- often fall back into pop-culture-ref jokes. That sort of lets the limited-space strip lean on something wider and external. It also, unfortunately, seems lazy and gets dated fast).
So I guess what I'm saying is that Nicholas Gurewitch, it turns out, was doing something really difficult, but is so phenomenally talented that he made it look easy. And a bunch of lesser talents followed him out onto the wire before they realized how tough it was.
posted by COBRA! at 8:50 AM on February 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
So I guess what I'm saying is that Nicholas Gurewitch, it turns out, was doing something really difficult, but is so phenomenally talented that he made it look easy. And a bunch of lesser talents followed him out onto the wire before they realized how tough it was.
posted by COBRA! at 8:50 AM on February 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
God's computer seems... familiar.
So yeah, Perry Bible Fellowship with reused Far Side captions.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 9:43 AM on February 2, 2010
So yeah, Perry Bible Fellowship with reused Far Side captions.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 9:43 AM on February 2, 2010
I like it. PBF may have done the different drawing styles thing first, but that doesn't mean no one else should ever attempt doing something similar - not to mention, there is a lot of value in bringing visual diversity to what you do.
And even though I just picked up the PBF book and I'm a great fan, I sometimes think people overestimate it. Don't get me wrong, it's really really good, but it's essentially the same type of humor as Maneggs. I'm not saying PBF is bad, hell no, but I think I just might be saying Maneggs is good. Disclaimer: I'm currently attempting to run a comic that's very similar to Maneggs, so I am totally biased.
posted by wet-raspberry at 12:26 PM on February 2, 2010
And even though I just picked up the PBF book and I'm a great fan, I sometimes think people overestimate it. Don't get me wrong, it's really really good, but it's essentially the same type of humor as Maneggs. I'm not saying PBF is bad, hell no, but I think I just might be saying Maneggs is good. Disclaimer: I'm currently attempting to run a comic that's very similar to Maneggs, so I am totally biased.
posted by wet-raspberry at 12:26 PM on February 2, 2010
I hate to be such a jackass, but I'm with stilist. I just kept reading them and thinking, "Wait.. I made that joke ten years ago," and even then I knew someone else had long before me.
Anyone with a sense of humor or an eighth has sat around making up stories with their friends about silly/unflattering situations these famous protagonists, generally known for whatever light-hearted media they came from, have gotten themselves into.
Simply put, this is the kind of web comic I would end up producing. That's why I don't make web comics. The internet needs a special kind of humor, and as echoed several times above, this is very Robot Chicken-esque (which I love) but with a lot less effort (which is one of the reasons I am fond of the show; completely unfunny, completely facepalm worthy, secondhand embarrassment-inducing bits aside - I enjoy dedication they have to the animation).
The illustrations are legit though. He just needs to pair up with a good writer.
posted by june made him a gemini at 1:02 PM on February 2, 2010
Anyone with a sense of humor or an eighth has sat around making up stories with their friends about silly/unflattering situations these famous protagonists, generally known for whatever light-hearted media they came from, have gotten themselves into.
Simply put, this is the kind of web comic I would end up producing. That's why I don't make web comics. The internet needs a special kind of humor, and as echoed several times above, this is very Robot Chicken-esque (which I love) but with a lot less effort (which is one of the reasons I am fond of the show; completely unfunny, completely facepalm worthy, secondhand embarrassment-inducing bits aside - I enjoy dedication they have to the animation).
The illustrations are legit though. He just needs to pair up with a good writer.
posted by june made him a gemini at 1:02 PM on February 2, 2010
« Older "I only believe in intoxication, in ecstasy, and... | Literary Matters Nonsensical Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by griphus at 6:31 PM on February 1, 2010 [13 favorites]