The GREAT NOUN ADVENTURE RETURNS!
A year ago we did a big, weird noun-voting experience over on Patreon with my $5+ patrons and this year it came back with much fanfare! And now you get to see the bizarre results! It's a pile of weird nouns just thrown into a blender. What will result? Well...
VOTE TO EXPOUND WITH A GREAT DEAL OF NOUNS!!!
As for this comic...
We arrive at the end of this story arc (save for a little coda and wrap-up stuff still coming down the pipes) and I, for one, am infinitely grateful. This comic never ceases to amaze me with how much time it takes to convey even the simplest of story arcs. This Scooby-Doo thing was supposed to be a fun little diversion. And it took the better part of two years to complete. For the people who stuck it out for that, I applaud you. And for newer readers, they may be surprised to learn that Puck is not actually a dedicated Scooby-Doo fan comic.
As for me, I share Puck's sentiment in panel four. Now let us never speak of Scoob again.
Puck 654
The GREAT NOUN ADVENTURE RETURNS!
A year ago we did a big, weird noun-voting experience over on Patreon with my $5+ patrons and this year it came back with much fanfare! And now you get to see the bizarre results! It's a pile of weird nouns just thrown into a blender. What will result? Well...
VOTE TO EXPOUND WITH A GREAT DEAL OF NOUNS!!!
As for this comic...
We arrive at the end of this story arc (save for a little coda and wrap-up stuff still coming down the pipes) and I, for one, am infinitely grateful. This comic never ceases to amaze me with how much time it takes to convey even the simplest of story arcs. This Scooby-Doo thing was supposed to be a fun little diversion. And it took the better part of two years to complete. For the people who stuck it out for that, I applaud you. And for newer readers, they may be surprised to learn that Puck is not actually a dedicated Scooby-Doo fan comic.
As for me, I share Puck's sentiment in panel four. Now let us never speak of Scoob again.
Wrap up stuff:
-Daphne’s outfit disappearing
-Colin digger over a transmission bill
– plans to use these cosplay outfits for Miranda’s first (or second , third, fourth, etc. Halloween costumes for trick and treats.
All possible. Though the transmission is just fine.
*hugs and comforts Phoebe*
Glad someone did.
Aw Phoebe! You made ONE mistake. Compare that to your clothing genius and objective observers would agree: You’re not stupid. Definitely quirky but that goes with the creativity.
(Now – I’m not the author. Maybe Phoebe really is stupid, but I have not seen it. Who among us has never trusted our technology a little too much?)
Phoebe is not stupid. She is a little naive and perhaps overly focussed on some elements of life at the expense of others, but hey, that’s most of us, I think.
What a terribly overly dragged out storyline. Even ends on a really bad out of nowhere slanderous joke. Hopefully this needless length will not be repeated again.
It will be. I’d save yourself the bother and just stop reading here.
Thanks for your review, TJIMMEH!
I wanted a Scooby-Doo story and I wasted two years of a part of my life reading something that didn’t even took advantage of the joke. Not even a Blair Witch parody like how the Mystery gang did back in the day. It’s just a misdirection without a good punchline.
The ONLY thing I like about this is that Colin finally grew a pair. I just wish it wasn’t in this chapter for that to happened.
You wasted two years of your life? Dude, I spent twenty hours a week over those two years pushing this out. So if there’s someone who’s wasted two years of his life, it’s obviously me. Thank you for letting me know.
I enjoyed your story and the characters. You are one of only 3 folks on the internet that gets a patron buck from me. Hint: That means you put out the good stuff!
Well, that is a real vote of confidence. Thank you.
That says more about you than the comic, my dude. (and little of it good)
Jeez, how long does it take you to click on and click off?
And what kind of person makes a point of making that particular point. There’s flouncing out, and I’ve been guilty of a flounce or two, and then there’s just being pointlessly negative.
Get a grip, man!
“Abbott and Costello,” the radio show, used to have a character, Mr. Melonhead. No matter what Costello would say, he would find fault with it.
Sometimes being here reminds me of that.
Well, this wasn’t the fun trip they wanted.
But maybe it was the trip they needed, instead.
Maybe. Word’s still out.
Re: the vote incentive – Phoebe is looking unusually determined and badass. ^_^ She reminds me of Lara Croft in this outfit.
It’s not very in keeping with the character. But hey, desperate times call for desperate measures?
I personally was never a fan of Hanna-Barbera, not even as a kid. I didn’t hate them and I still don’t but they just didn’t appeal to me that much. As a kid I loved Disney and Warner Brothers toons, as an adult Disney is rather meh but I still love Warners. The only thing I like about Scooby-doo is Velma/Daphne and their ……. “-ahem-” um. well. uhh……I’m gonna shut up now.
Hanna-Barbers stand as revolutionary figures in the world of making super-cheap animation for TV. Before them, the common wisdom was that making animation for TV was a money-losing game because the cost of the animation was so high. But Hanna-Barbera found a way. I do respect them for that. And I do like Scooby-Doo. But there’s a lot of their output in the 70’s that is just not very appealing to me. When they found a formula, man, they stuck with it.
Hanna-Barbera created the prime time animated cartoon parody of pop culture in The Flintstones, the reigning and still champion greatest animated adventure in Jonny Quest, and arguably the most prescient futuristic half hour show in The Jetsons.
Then they re-invented everything in association with Turner Broadcasting in the creation of such long-lasting Cartoon Network originals – The Powerpuff Girls, Genndy Tarkovsky’s Dexter’s Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, Courage the Cowardly Dog
They created a slew of original superhero cartoons that were the essence of awesomeness. (Space Ghost, Herculoids!!, Birdman, Frankenstein Jr., Blue Falcon and Dynomutt, Mightor, etc, etc.)
And goodness knows – Scooby Doo and the Mystery Gang has rarely been out of production.
This whole storyline has been fun.
And, by extension, you can roll in pretty much all of the output of Ruby-Spears, whose success was basically mimicking everything they learned from being part of Hanna-Barbera.
Klasky-Csupo is probably the closest any other creative animated group has come to eclipsing Hanna Barbera’s success. And they never developed the range… Though any group that can claim Duckman AND Rugrats has got to be respected…
I’m glad you liked. And certainly Hanna-Barbera we’re central to shaping the pop culture landscape we have. The 80’s TV animation boom, the Simpsons, none of it would have existed without H-B blazing a path.
Hanna-Barbera also nakedly ripped off popular sitcoms–The Honeymooners (Flintstones), Hazel (Jetsons), Sgt. Bilko (Top Cat), and Dobie Gillis (Scooby-Doo). Their “original” opening theme for The Flintstones was a rearrangement of the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes Overture (but that did not stand). Jackie Gleason wanted to sue their asses, but was advised by lawyers that it would make him “the guy that killed The Flintstones” in popular culture, so he backed off. Their animation style was drolly described as “color radio” in some commentary I read as a kid in the ’60s. So, they were influential, all right. I watched a lot of it, liked a lot of it, but always have been of two minds about it. Even as a kid, you could see that there was the old WB and MGM toons, and then there was this stuff–and it wasn’t nearly as funny as Rocky and Bulwinkle.
Colour radio, what a fun description.
I’d never heard of Hazel until a passing reference in an episode of This American Life, and not of Dobie Gillis at all until a few strips ago. Honestly, I thin H-B got the better of those two and considering Hazel itself was based on a comic, I’m not sure they have room to complain.
Color Radio? Love it. Perfect? Nah. Great for the time and long-lasting? Hell-yeah.
Of course the Flintstones parodied popular sitcoms of the day. As if that wasn’t also Warner Brothers/Looney Toons schtick as well, if I’m any judge of their dead-on caricatures of Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Ray Milland, the Oscars, popular game shows….etc.
H-B were also the progenitors of the original Tom and Jerry cartoons (the deliciously violent, (un)intentionally racist shorts from the 30s and 40s) as well as DROOPY (> Tom & Jerry), and – most importantly – they introduced the great Tex Avery to the animated world.
HB put out some good stuff when Turner bought them out. (Pirates of Dark Water, Real Adventures of Johnny Quest, Swat Kats).
Their 70s and 80s stuff? I just shrug and chalk it all up to products of their time.
I feel like the Turner-era stuff isn’t really Hanna-Barbera. Sure, they put the name on it, but that was more just Cartoon Network stuff. Good stuff, though. That was a great era of kids’ animated TV.
Two YEARS? Jesus Christ. Well, time to brace for the next story arc!
For the record, two years seems to be the average for a story arc. They’re roughly the length of a half-hour sitcom, and if the comic we’re running daily, it’d be a different story. But it is what it is.
Maybe it’s a bad idea to run a story-based comic weekly.
Wow, September, 2020, just 3 months shy of a full 2 years!!!
https://www.puckcomics.com/?comic=puck-564
Prom arc was considerably longer. It just takes forever to do anything in this comic with four panels per week.
Here’s an idea for those who wish for faster storylines than can be afforded by a once-a-week format. Donate to ElectricGecko, get paraphernalia and merchandise so it can be pursued as a full time career. Three panels a week rather than just one.
I don’t want to wring any more out of my tiny audience, honestly. The small number of people who support the comic have been great. But there will never, ever be enough of them to make it possible for me to do this full-time. And that speaks to the failing appeal of the comic, not the dedication of the readers.
It’s becoming obvious that I don’t have what it takes to succeed in this online comic world. Twelve years and a constantly shrinking readership have made that apparent.
I’ll just have to add it to the list of failures. The biggest error I made was not realizing the failure earlier.
“Success” is relative when you’re talking about webcomics. I think you have to be very, very lucky to make a living at it. There are seven other webcomic creators I support on Patreon and all but one of them have fewer patrons than you. I’d understand if you decided that it wasn’t worth your effort, but I think it would be a shame.
Done and done. Just went and got merched up in the store at the top of the page to show support for EG.
4 tees and a hoodie, not just for EG, I needed some new gear, it’s flipping cold here.
Heh, heh, I’m gonna amuse myself, an old fart wandering around in a BFF hoodie watching people try to figure out what it means; and maybe seeing a flash of recognition on some of their faces.
You didn’t have to do that, but I thank you. Know that you’re in a very exclusive club of people who have any of the merch. In some cases you’re wearing designs that have never been worn by anyone else. Ever.
If you ever see a flash of recognition, though, I want to know about it. I think the chances of that are so astronomically small. Even in a select population like At a comic convention, no one has ever shown the faintest hint of recognition when I’m wearing one of my shirts.
The “You are now returning to Civilization” road sign is a nice touch.
It felt right.
I can’t make out the bottom line of the sign.
What does it say?
“We Know You Missed It”
I, for one, enjoyed the ride. It was a great parady with lots of twists including a great unmasking scene. However, it would have been a nice Hanna Barbera jab if Papa Shnorf had been shown with a dead Yogi Bear over his shoulder
I think one’s mileage on this arc somewhat hinged on whether you had any affection for Scooby-Doo in the first place. I thought it was a safe choice due to the multigenerational appeal, but I guess not.
This was a bit of a failed experiment on my part. See, Puck has long been hamstrung due to the fact that it’s an original property with no ties to pop culture. I was never able to tap into an existing fan base and expand my readership to a larger level. This was a toe dip into that. But all it did was alienate a chunk of my existing readership, so … worst possible outcome, I guess.
No. Worst possible outcome is NOT FINISHING.
Leaving a story unfinished, ie Bearmageddon or Alice in Mobland, is the worst possible outcome. Or not following through on your post schedule. If you say every Tuesday, post has to happen every Tuesday or at least communicate with your readers if there will be a change.
I can depend on PUCK coming out every Tuesday. The characters are well-defined and, most importantly, Growing – at a pretty good rate for a weekly.
Well, thanks for that vote of confidence. That’s something, I guess.
I don’t think this was so bad story, but even if the rest of fanbase thinks it is, it would be lost battle, not lost war. As long as you continue, you can have more luck with next story.
My luck with pleasing people seems to be a situation of diminishing returns, but I’ll try.
I’ve always said that you cannot please another.
The best you can reasonably expect is to please yourself and hope that others come along for the ride.
Even with the ups and downs and RL intruding all the time, did you generally enjoy creating something novel? Does creating Puck scratch that creative itch in the back of your head? I know when I get that itch, it drives me nuts until I can express it.
Not being tied to a pop culture reference is a positive in my opinion. It’s all yours and noone can tell you where it’s supposed to go.
The growth in Pucks story quantity and quality is astronomical. You started with 4 panel black and white oneshots, now you do full colour, beautifully expressive, exquisitely detailed extended story arcs.
Puck is a thing of beauty.
Well, your advice is solid. The question is whether I’m getting anything out of the creative process. And I am, though sometimes I’m plagued with doubt and wonder whether I’d be better off working on something else entirely (because the project you haven’t even started always seems much better in your mind).
But if other people like or find value in the comic, then it does provide some reassurance that I’m not totally wasting my time. So thank you.
I take it they’re not going on to the convention?
No. Certainly not.
I was looking forward to seeing thousands dressed as the characters. I’m sure you weren’t looking forward to drawing that many, but, still, a few…
I’m not drawing that. I hate drawing crowds.
Well, geckos aren’t very large, so I can see how a crowd would intimidate.
I must confess that when you said in the notes that this arc was 2 years long, it did not seem that way…it did not seem that long to me. So much has happened in the last couple of years and this comic has been one of many touchstones.
Well, it’s not that long if you’re reading it in order. Actually kinda short. It’s just the update pace that crawls along so slowly. But yeah, the last two years have been … interesting.
Wait…weren’t the two arguing over who would be Daphne earlier, so Phoebe had to be Velma by default?
Yep. She would have made a better Daphne, certainly.
I was wondering who was speaking in the last panel, you wrote that it’s Puck, but I was happy thinking that it was everyone, all six of them in the van, hehehe
Don’t let the haters get you down, I enjoyed the story, I’ve enjoyed all the stories.
Well, thanks for the vote of confidence. I don’t personally think that this story was any worse than previous ones. And it seems like whatever story arc we are currently in is always everyone’s least favorite. Not sure what that says.
In my opinion, it’s hard to beat the arcs centered around character development. The Prom, for example, left several characters different at the end than they were in the beginning and was both hilarious and memorable. OTOH Funderland had lots of humor and one new major supporting character but did not feel as memorable perhaps because no-one had to make any real life-changing decisions; it had the moment of Puck reuniting with Miranda, and Colin alerting Phoebe to what she was doing to her best friend but mostly it was chaos and barfing and I loved it.
I’m sure I’m in the minority in the cancer arc but I feel it was unforgettable.
This Scoobycon arc just didn’t have character-changing moments. Light humor has its place!
—
I want to say something encouraging like, “You’ve got more readers than Emily Dickinson did when she was alive” or “Puck has been read more often than ‘Moby Dick’ during the life of Herman Melville” but upon reflection that seems a bit morbid. You’re putting out work that I hope satisfies you, and I hope that keeps you going!!!
Having more readers than none is something I do appreciate. That’s a good thing. I’ve had no readers before. It sucked.
From general response, people seem to have liked the prom arc best. The cancer arc was … divisive? Some people liked it. But I remember it being really a point in the comic where I lost a bunch of readers.
I do hope people like the next arc. It’s another ‘character development’ one, so we shall see.
Dude, the cancer arc was FANTASTIC. Anyone who doesn’t think so is just wrong. So no, it’s not just you. It’s every right-thinking person out there.z
O.K., he lost some readers, so maybe I’m overstating it. But I lost my father to cancer, my mother to hear disiease, my brother to epilepsy and I have a prosthetic heart valve. I get it. If they don’t yet, they will.
I agree with Bergerjacques. I’ve come to look forward to Tuesday mornings with Puck and coffee regardless of the story progression. They’re real personalities, inspired cartooning, and great story telling. Please keep on keeping on… 😉
Well, if you insist. Thanks.
Two years? Wow! Never thought it was that long!
Time flies. In reading time, though, it’s just a quick blip.
Awww! And they never got to go to the con!
I liked this story. I don’t care whatever anyone says.
I’ve heard Civilization, Ont. is very nice. Lots of beer though.
Civilization? I’ll stay right here.
Also, hugs for Phoebe.. it’s very rare to get the character perfect on the first go. It’s like Aperture Science taught us.. you just keep on trying till you run out of cake.
Some people are just unable to get a character perfect on any go.
Two years? Get outta town, it was two months, tops.
I know, right? Doesn’t feel like two years to me.
To be fair, Gecko, since you only update once a week, it takes forever to get through the storyline. If this comic was your only responsibility and you updated 5 days a week, you’d get through stories faster.
But the age when you can really make a living doing nothing but webcomics is…in a strange state. Ad revenue isn’t what it used to be, and webtoon is not viable for western creators. It’s never going to be like Penny Arcade got to be again, unfortunately.
Nah, you’re right. The market for webcomics that aren’t Korean romance comics is astonishingly small. And getting smaller by the day.
Here’s a thought. What if the last line were spoken by Miranda?
That’s some real vocab development.
It would deffinately be from the heart.
Wouldn’t that sentiment create a few zombies?
I think Phoebe needs to make new friends and do her own thing. :3
That’s the thinking!