So, why are you here?
on June 29, 2016 at 12:01 amLet’s talk about Joe, and why he’s back in the story, I guess!
Back in Roomies!, Joe was abducted by Aliens, and that was just a fun story I did, and Joyce also getting abducted was just supposed to be this funny punchline. But as I expanded the story and started bringing in more Alien elements, Joyce’s part in that story became way more prominent, because she was originally created to be this alien-fighting character who works for SEMME, and I was working towards that. And Joe got purposefully marginalized in those developments because that’s not where his character is “supposed to go.” He’s supposed to grow up and build Ultra Car and fly around in Ultra Car with Danny and shoot OTHER aliens. At least, according to my stories circa elementary school.
But, well, Sal was exiting to become kinda weird for a while, and I needed a replacement, and It’s Walky! was old enough that I didn’t feel like adding such a major a Roomies! character back in in such a major way (versus the reappearance of Alex) was betraying the new webcomic’s sovereignty. Plus, since he was kind of an outsider, he’d get to comment on stuff from a comedically unique perspective. And, um, other developments. As you’ll see. Eventually, I figured I had to do what made the most sense for the story versus honor the way the characters segregated in my brain.
I’d add a little Joe into Shortpacked! as well, several years into that webcomic when it’d established its own identity. I guess eventually you gotta add in a little Joe.
(and “electro-scrambler” is another Transformers reference, of course)
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Should we expect a Monkey Mistress anytime soon?
Are you *trying* to upset the Sensitive Scanner? You cad!
Would be interesting to see the Sensitive Scanner fighting for her love, especially when she doesn’t have arms or legs.
You always have to put little Joe in.
I wonder if Joe would be frustrated with everyone calling it “little.”
“It gets the job done, ok?!”
I barely even need to point out the innuendo in “add a little Joe”. It’s right there for the viewing.
“We can pay you.”
What a wonderful thing to say to a college student!
It continues to surprise me how important Ultra Car was to you at some point in your life. And how separately you pictured Roomies and It’s Walky being. To me, Roomies is sorta like It’s Walky’s rough-looking prologue which only serves to explain who Danny and Billie are.
It actually reminds of how, back when I was, like, 11 or something, I got this idea for a series of video games about a young boy being given superpowers by a radioactive meteor shower (during the new moon) and chosen to fight an army of superpowered aliens infected by another interdimensional race of superpowered aliens.
A decade or so later, and now all the aliens have been removed, the radioactive new moon meteor shower has been removed, and the singular child protagonist is now a group of eight teenagers. But what hasn’t changed is that I’m still nowhere close to actually making this.
Why are you here?
It’s one of life’s great mysteries, isn’t it. Why are you here? I mean, are you the product of… some cosmic coincidence or, is there really a Willis… watching everything? You know, with a plan for you and stuff. I don’t know man, but it keeps me up at night.
Originally posted:
October 11, 2001
Also,
Ultimately, I think it’s for the best.
Adding a new character, especially an outsider to all this madness, was probably a good idea.
And having it be Joe let you focus more on the material and less on trying to build and characterize an entirely new character.
“Other developments.” Heh, heh.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t bringing Joe back something that was part of the decision to off Hooper, since they filled roughly the same ecological niche in the comic (‘horndog comic relief’)? I mean, beyond the broader purge of “guys based on your RL friends” that was going on at the time.
Maybe? I don’t recall, but it’s not improbable.
I’m honestly not sure if offing Hooper had much to do with bringing Joe back. I mean, it’s not like Hooper appeared all that often (at this point, he has less appearances than Alex in IW! alone).
And now I know! Thanks!
(Ignoring obvious 80s reference….)
Also, “that explains the genitalia” is a funny punchline.
I really like Joe, in all his various iterations. He can be either the smartest or dumbest guy in the room, and it’s funny either way.
Kind of like Zaphod Beeblebrox.
… I was gonna make a Joe’s Second Head joke, but I realized the obvious punchline.