Penny Arcade: The Warsun Prophecies

In the first sentence of the introduction to this, the third volume of Penny Arcade webcomic collections, Jerry Holkins (aka Tycho) says that 2002 "might be [his] favorite year of Penny Arcade." He then closes by saying "[e]very good thing that has ever happened to me has been the result of your enthusiasm, your kindness, and your support." These two statements are fairly significant, taken together, and represent something about this year in particular.

The 'something' I refer to is the fact that this was the year when--apparently--Penny Arcade became fully reader supported. The introduction also mentions the advertisers, but Tycho seems to be specifically talking to the readers, especially when he thanks them so graciously. You really get the feeling that through these statements, and the very strips themselves, 2002 was the year where Tycho and Gabe realized they had an audience and began to write toward their own whims because they knew hundreds, thousands, indeed, millions of readers would eat it up.

It'd be easy to make a case for this being one of the best Penny Arcade years, too. Setting aside the origins of the ever popular Fruitf*****, Cardboard Tube Samurai, and Mr. Period characters, 2002 also has a lot of my personal favorite strips, such as the paint huffing one, Claw Shrimp, the Space Devil, the surge protector/"harmful Martian Rays" one, and Tribes 3/4/5's "beating a dead horse." While I suppose it's true that the strip became more insular, vulgar, and "you might need to read the newspost to get the joke" during 2002, that's always been the big appeal for me, anyway. Furthermore, I often find that violence and gross out humor are done best when they are written by very intelligent people, and to that extent, Penny Arcade's creators are two of the most intelligent, critical, and sharp minds in the whole videogame industry. And they like to swear.

Other than all the strips from 2002, The Warsun Prophecies contains Tycho's commentary on every strip, his introduction, an angry and funny introduction by PvP creator Scott Kurtz, and a few pages of concept art from the forthcoming Penny Arcade game. While this isn't the wealth of bonus content that the second collection had, it's still enough for any fan to appreciate and want to buy. In my opinion it's worth the price of admission just for Tycho's commentary, which, as always, is funny, informative, and other words that mean 'funny' and 'informative.'

If you're a fan, you simply must have this.

Penny Arcade: Epic Legends of the Magic Sword Kings

In personal terms, 2001 was probably the first year I realized how huge Penny Arcade had become. Keep in mind that this was a time when we were all still stuck on 56k modems--well, most of us anyway--and it often took anywhere from 5 seconds to a full half minute to view a PA strip. Anyway, strips seemed to be linked, referenced, and posted on message boards I frequented with growing regularity until at some point everybody stopped doing it. Because hey, we figured, we all read it anyway. And that seemingly eternal wait was always worth it.

Epic Legends of the Magic Sword Kings is the second Penny Arcade collection. It contains every strip posted in 2001, a time when the comic's Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule was set in stone. In addition to that, Epic Legends includes an introduction by J. Allard (of Microsoft), an introduction by Tycho, commentary on every strip as well as select blogposts by Tycho, 34 full color pages of illustrations from the Penny Arcade card game, and a section of various projects/side projects that Gabe and Tycho worked on over the years. For sheer volume, Epic Legends is the best bang-for-your-buck of all the PA collections.

Going only by gaming terms, 2001 was something of a watershed year for the industry. The Dreamcast and PS2 were out, with the former reaching its peak and the latter slowly building momentum toward the world crushing juggernaut it would become. At the same time, the year saw the launch of a full three platforms: the Gameboy Advance, the original Xbox, and the Gamecube. With all this material to work with, and the usual assorted rumbles on the PC and tech sides, you can be sure that 2001 was also a very good year for Penny Arcade. Though every time I flip through each of the collections (or go through a given year via the online archives on their website) I end up thinking it's my favorite year or has the most of my favorite strips, I would definitely rank 2001 as being one of the top years. That's not to say that the other years are necessarily bad or worse for it, but in my mind I think of 2001 as the first time the full breadth and depth of what Jerry (Tycho) and Mike (Gabe) could do with Penny Arcade was first fully shown.

You really can't go wrong with Epic Legends of the Magic Sword Kings if you're any kind of fan. Not only are the strips themselves great, but Jerry's commentary on each is almost always hilarious. That's to say nothing of the handful of concurrent blogposts from that era, which--if you've never bothered to read his more modern posts on the website nowadays--demonstrate what a brilliant and memorable writer he is. Of course I also have nothing but nice things to say about Mike's art, something you also get a full taste of with the full color card game artwork section.

To put it succinctly: go buy this.

The Four Greatest Creative Duos I Can Think Of Off The Top Of My Head

As my counterpart is taking a sabbatical from posting and trying not to have a nervous breakdown, it's had me thinking about the dynamic of two people working together. I've always thought of myself as a solitary fellow, who doesn't and can't rely on someone else for input and ideas. It might be just because I haven't met another who works in the quite the same fashion that I do--not to mention one who has the same pacing and creative processes. Anyway, off the top of my head, here are the four best creative duos working today.

Who??: David Berman and Stephen Malkmus.

What??: Though not so much a duo as a kind of mutually inclusive musical brotherhood, Berman and Malkmus have worked together on and off for roughly 20 years. Most of the time it's been in the context of Berman's Silver Jews, a sort of revolving door group with only Berman as the permanent member. That said, Malkmus's contributions to the band's albums over the years have been frequently brilliant. As friends who often appear at each other's shows, and collaborators in the Silver Jews proper, the two are 40 something pillars of indie rock--the more literate and singer/songwriter-y Berman having a true foil in the more absurdist and rocking Malkmus.

Crucial Work: American Water by the Silver Jews


Who??: Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins

What??: Now closing in on its 10 year, Penny Arcade is the gaming webcomic. Through their alter egos, Gabe and Tycho, Krahulik and Holkins deliver comics three times a week that range from obscene to hilarious to surreal to violent. Lest this devolve into a PR introduction to the duo, let me just say that Penny Arcade is the only webcomic I've been able to stand for more than a year at a time, and their consistency as well as ability to always update on time is unmatched.

Crucial Work: Uhm, Penny Arcade.

Who??: Avey Tare and Panda Bear.

What??: Though it diminishes the contributions of the other two members of the band, Animal Collective is, for all intents and purposes, led by Avey Tare and Panda Bear. And in their journey, they have turned Animal Collective from being a merely interesting noise/psychedelic band to one of the most rewarding and gifted groups of today. Even outside the context of the band, the two produce great solo work that demands equal attention and appreciation.

Crucial Work: Sung Tongs by Animal Collective

Who??: Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim

What??: You may have gathered from my posts that I am a bitter, depressed loner who can only feel joy while I'm giving poison candy to babies or flipping off priests. However, Tim and Eric take a chisel to my stoney frown and flip it upside down with their genius. Both Tom Goes To The Mayor and Tim and Eric's Awesome Show: Great Job! are two of the most polarizing shows on Adult Swim: people seem to be completely in love with them or utterly detest them. Being in the former camp, I can safely say that Tim and Eric are two of the funniest people alive today, and their brand of surreal/absurdist/dry humor, with dashes of dark humor, self deprecation, and gross out jokes thrown in for good measure, is like my favorite thing ever.

Crucial Work: Tom Goes To The Mayor