Comic Anthropology 101 (19) Socioeconomics Part Two

[Psiogen]

I think of most of my characters as being pretty much like me: introverted and disconnected from mainstream society, not part of any particular subculture, but willing to salvage whatever bits appeal to them from any of it.

[Taiwanimation]

Soretlli you make a good point- the "mainstream" is hardly a main stream at all, its actually far from a majority.

Going back to the writing what we know, its good to see that there probably aren't any snobs here on Keenspace. Not bad, not bad.

[McDuffies]

I think a major quality of on-line comics comes out of "write what you know" stuff. As we deal with everydays problems, we input them in our comics, more or less directly, and that can't be a bad thing.
But also, it can be bad; mainly, if author can't make his comic more interesting than his life actually is.

[ZOMBIE USER 11601]

What if your comic has stuff like magic beans, psychotic hamsters and the apocalypse?
I can honestly say I've never come into contact with any of those things in real life, and my comic has or will have all of these things...
And that's just the start...

Oops, I'm turning into Rabid Advertising Mode(TM) again! I really need to work out how to turn that thing off!

[ZOMBIE USER 10963]

I wouldn't think of the PF guys as being a normal demographic, because I can't imagine three guys like Owen, Noah and T together in the real world or seeing a trio like that on a prime-time sitcom. The careful geek, the lucky popular handsome guy that used to tease the geek and their balding heavyset crazy neighbor who hangs out with them constantly... Their absurd relationship is one of the things that makes PF so cool.

Thanks, Sortelli. Your check's in the mail.

Now, true, the PF characters are really hard to see actually hang out with each other, but Seinfeld, one of the most popular sitcoms ever, has a weird group of friends that... well... Kramer? Who wants to hang out with Kramer?

[McDuffies]

What if your comic has stuff like magic beans, psychotic hamsters and the apocalypse?
I can honestly say I've never come into contact with any of those things in real life, and my comic has or will have all of these things...
And that's just the start...

Oops, I'm turning into Rabid Advertising Mode(TM) again! I really need to work out how to turn that thing off!

Since the last replay was erased, I guess I'll have to repeat:
Well, that rule obviously doesn't apply on every comic, but whenever you try to portrait social activity, it's most likely a picture of authors social activity. In that way, comic becomes a picture of the society in which author lives.
There's also a lot of projecting of other kinds. Example, mass murdering rats in my comic is because I hate "Tom and Jerry". I hate any mouse in any cartoon, too.

[Taiwanimation]

Real ones are even worse.

[McDuffies]

That is the main reason. I don't think Hanna&Barbera ever had real mouse in their kitchens.