Comics On the Web Are Not Always Webcomics

Those of you on this thing we call Internet (or, alternatively, interwebs, intarnuts, netterzone, world net webterverse, those there internets, or information superhighway) may be aware of the backlash against certain newspaper comics.

Those of you who are not clearly do not frequent the same segments of the interwebnuts superwebway as I do.

At any rate, two of the main offenders are Garfield and Marmaduke. Garfield is decried as clichéd, predictable, simplistic, repetitive, and clichéd. (You see what I did there?) Marmaduke, however, is clearly written by a person who is insane. One upon a time, this would have ended with someone making a website about how much they don't like one or the other, then host it on Geocities and stop thinking about it after about a month.

But this is the internet. And bad pop culture has nowhere to run.

First, there is Garfield Minus Garfield. It presents the very same strips seen in newspapers worldwide, with the simple modification that Garfield is removed from them. Once that is done, we're reminded that we're dealing with a comic about a man whose sole point of contact is his cat. In the words of the summary of the webpage itself: "Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness in a quiet American suburb."

And for Marmaduke lovers, don't think you're getting off easily either. Marmaduke Explained should not be as funny as it is, since it's basically a summation of a comic, and then goes on to explain why things are not funny therein. This particular comic highlights the hilarity as the author of the blog goes insane.