Penny Arcade
is an immensely popular Web comic and, in book form, a perfect example of why Web comics are, well, on the Web. The seven-year-old comic strip revolves around gaming, science fiction and computer humor. The two protagonists, Tycho and Gabe (also the code names for the creators), obsess over video games, new technology and the minutiae of their lives and fantasies. Displaying not a trace of self-consciousness or self-deprecation, the strip's premise is that the creators are the funniest guys in the room. Nearly every joke is told with a wink to the audience and swift elbow in the ribs. The drawing is repetitive, and the strips use none of the graphic effects available online. Instead, they are simple panel sequences. In book form, there are two strips per page, with commentary from the creators. along the bottom. Oddly, Holkins and Krahulik have chosen to print their comics at exactly the same resolution as online, making the actual images grainy, unfocused and simply not up to normal print standards. For a technology-obsessed strip, this is an odd mistake. The humor in Penny Arcade
will definitely appeal to its core audience of webheads and gaming addicts. For the rest of us, it is all too disposable. (Feb.)
