Bob and George
Encyclopedia
Bob and George was a sprite-based
webcomic
which parodied the fictional universe of Mega Man
. It is written by David Anez, a physics instructor who lives in the American Midwest
. The comic first appeared on April 1, 2000 and ran until July 28, 2007. It was updated daily, with there being only 29 days without a comic in its seven years of production and with 2568 comics being made altogether.
Most Bob and George strips are still images. The initial strips were mostly done in GIF
format (occasionally using JPEG
for more graphic-intensive comics) before converting to PNG in May 2004. In addition, occasional comics are animated
using either animated GIFs or Macromedia Flash. Some of the Flash comics have the characters speaking, voiced by Anez and others (often forum members). Animated comics are generally used for the annual week-long anniversary
parties (usually culminating in a brief animated comic that recaps the events of the past year in a matter of seconds), for especially climactic scenes, and for a series of videos depicting an in-comic event known as "the Cataclysm".
The comic's plot is mostly made up of story arc
s of varying lengths. Amongst past story arcs there have been retellings of various Mega Man games (which often play out quite differently than the originals), as well as battles against powerful foes. In addition, many of the story arcs involve either time travel
, dimensional
travel, and villains who want to kill all the characters.
]
Bob and George was originally planned to be a hand-drawn webcomic about the college adventures of two brothers named Bob and George. Slated to start on April 1, 2000, the plan fell through because Anez did not have a scanner with which to scan his drawings. He stated "I was hoping to use my friend's scanner, but he was never around."http://media.www.kykernel.com/media/storage/paper305/news/2002/04/19/Kerneltech/Quirky.Comics.Find.An.Online.Home-241146.shtml He instead released a sequence of filler comics using Mega Man
sprites
, which he intended to be a temporary measure until he gained access to a scanner, at which point he would implement his initial plan involving the hand drawn comics. He eventually purchased a scanner, and on June 1 he released the hand-drawn comic.
The hand-drawn comic was to revolve around a group of superheroes attending college. Neither the initial attempt nor a later attempt at it went well, and both times he returned to the Mega Man sprite comic.http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2004/06/63691 Anez has stated that he hated the hand-drawn comic. The hand-drawn comic made something of a return in the storyline "All Good Things" -- the hand-drawn format is used to represent George's home dimension, though this time drawn by Liss, Dave's wife. Dave stated the reason for this is he realized that he still could not draw, and was not going to get any better.
However, this meant that the comic strip was titled "Bob and George", but did not contain any characters named "Bob" or "George". This was fixed with the introduction of sprite versions of the two characters into the comic. Bob is depicted as a gray Proto Man recolor
while George is a Mega Man recolor with blond hair and no helmet.
David planned to end the comic by April 1, 2007, which is the end of the seventh year of the comic's run. However, the story took longer than expected, and the comic ended on Anez's birthday, July 28, 2007. There were a total of 2,658 daily comics produced.
. Clevinger has called Anez "the Father of Sprite Comics" for his role in popularizing the phenomenon, and directly credits a friend showing him Anez's Bob and George for his inspiration to make his comic. Regarding the use of sprites in a comic, Clevinger has said,
The "pixelated look" in webcomics that Bob and George popularized is also considered an influence on later original pixel art comics like Diesel Sweeties
and Dinosaur Comics
.
Bob and George has an active fan community. , the site's forum
s have over 10,000 registered users and over 500,000 articles posted. In many ways, the forums have grown to be almost completely disconnected from the main comic, as the community has flourished on its own. In an informal survey conducted of the Bob and George forum members, 82% of survey respondents claimed to read Bob and George on a regular basis, with the remaining 18% either reading it occasionally or not at all.
In addition to the main comic, the Bob and George site hosts a number of comics created by fans of the comic. These comics, which were selected by Anez for inclusion on the site, are known as "fancomics". Fancomics that have been determined by Dave to be of sufficient proven substance are referred to as "subcomics", and are linked to in their own area in the site. Almost all of the fancomics are sprite based. Many fancomics started out on the forums, and forum users often lend sprites to fancomic authors.
Bob and George has a large cast of characters consisting of characters from the Mega Man
series of games, as well as original characters created by Anez and others.
video games, interspersed with the characters interacting and sometimes battling villains of Anez's own creation. Time travel
and inter-dimensional
travel are common occurrences, with many of the characters hailing from dimensions (or times) other than that of the main continuity. This leads to a number of temporal paradox
es.
Story lines frequently involve breaking the fourth wall
, with the strips' Author being a regular character. A running theme of the comic is that most, if not all, of the characters are fully aware that they are in a webcomic.
Sprite comic
Sprite comics are webcomics that use computer sprites, often taken from video games, for significant portions of their artwork. There are also animated sprite comics where each "strip" is a separate mini-movie, animated using technologies such as Flash.The comic Neglected Mario Characters is...
webcomic
Webcomic
Webcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....
which parodied the fictional universe of Mega Man
Mega Man (series)
Mega Man is a video game franchise from Capcom, starring the eponymous character Mega Man, or one of his many counterparts. The series is well-known and comprises well over fifty releases, easily making it Capcom's most prolific franchise. As of December 31, 2010, the series has sold approximately...
. It is written by David Anez, a physics instructor who lives in the American Midwest
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
. The comic first appeared on April 1, 2000 and ran until July 28, 2007. It was updated daily, with there being only 29 days without a comic in its seven years of production and with 2568 comics being made altogether.
Most Bob and George strips are still images. The initial strips were mostly done in GIF
GIF
The Graphics Interchange Format is a bitmap image format that was introduced by CompuServe in 1987 and has since come into widespread usage on the World Wide Web due to its wide support and portability....
format (occasionally using JPEG
JPEG
In computing, JPEG . The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality. JPEG typically achieves 10:1 compression with little perceptible loss in image quality....
for more graphic-intensive comics) before converting to PNG in May 2004. In addition, occasional comics are animated
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
using either animated GIFs or Macromedia Flash. Some of the Flash comics have the characters speaking, voiced by Anez and others (often forum members). Animated comics are generally used for the annual week-long anniversary
Anniversary
An anniversary is a day that commemorates or celebrates a past event that occurred on the same day of the year as the initial event. For example, the first event is the initial occurrence or, if planned, the inaugural of the event. One year later would be the first anniversary of that event...
parties (usually culminating in a brief animated comic that recaps the events of the past year in a matter of seconds), for especially climactic scenes, and for a series of videos depicting an in-comic event known as "the Cataclysm".
The comic's plot is mostly made up of story arc
Story arc
A story arc is an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, boardgames, video games, and in some cases, films. On a television program, for example, the story would unfold over many episodes. In television, the use of the story...
s of varying lengths. Amongst past story arcs there have been retellings of various Mega Man games (which often play out quite differently than the originals), as well as battles against powerful foes. In addition, many of the story arcs involve either time travel
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
, dimensional
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
travel, and villains who want to kill all the characters.
History
Bob and George was originally planned to be a hand-drawn webcomic about the college adventures of two brothers named Bob and George. Slated to start on April 1, 2000, the plan fell through because Anez did not have a scanner with which to scan his drawings. He stated "I was hoping to use my friend's scanner, but he was never around."http://media.www.kykernel.com/media/storage/paper305/news/2002/04/19/Kerneltech/Quirky.Comics.Find.An.Online.Home-241146.shtml He instead released a sequence of filler comics using Mega Man
Mega Man (character)
Mega Man, known as in Japan, is a cybernetic video game character, and the main protagonist of what has been referred to as the original Mega Man series developed by Capcom since 1987. The pixel art for the character was created by the designer of the original game in the series, credited under...
sprites
Sprite (computer graphics)
In computer graphics, a sprite is a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene...
, which he intended to be a temporary measure until he gained access to a scanner, at which point he would implement his initial plan involving the hand drawn comics. He eventually purchased a scanner, and on June 1 he released the hand-drawn comic.
The hand-drawn comic was to revolve around a group of superheroes attending college. Neither the initial attempt nor a later attempt at it went well, and both times he returned to the Mega Man sprite comic.http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2004/06/63691 Anez has stated that he hated the hand-drawn comic. The hand-drawn comic made something of a return in the storyline "All Good Things" -- the hand-drawn format is used to represent George's home dimension, though this time drawn by Liss, Dave's wife. Dave stated the reason for this is he realized that he still could not draw, and was not going to get any better.
However, this meant that the comic strip was titled "Bob and George", but did not contain any characters named "Bob" or "George". This was fixed with the introduction of sprite versions of the two characters into the comic. Bob is depicted as a gray Proto Man recolor
Palette swap
A palette swap is a practice used in video games, whereby a graphic that is already used for one element is given a different palette, so it can be reused as other elements. The different palette gives the new graphic a unique set of colors, which make it recognizably distinct from the original...
while George is a Mega Man recolor with blond hair and no helmet.
David planned to end the comic by April 1, 2007, which is the end of the seventh year of the comic's run. However, the story took longer than expected, and the comic ended on Anez's birthday, July 28, 2007. There were a total of 2,658 daily comics produced.
Significance
While not the first webcomic to ever use video game sprites in place of hand-drawn art, Bob and George is noted as being the first sprite comic to gain widespread popularity and the originator of the sprite comic "craze". At the height of its readership in 2004, Bob and George held an Alexa traffic rank of around 20,000. Anez's comic "paved the way" for the creation of numerous other sprite comics, including Oldskooledhttp://oldskooled.comicgenesis.com/, Life of Wilyhttp://www.lifeofwily.com/, and Brian Clevinger's 8-Bit Theater8-Bit Theater
8-Bit Theater is a completed sprite comic created by Brian Clevinger, and published in 1,225 episodes from March 2, 2001 to June 1, 2010. One of the most popular web comics, it won the Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards for best fantasy comic in 2002...
. Clevinger has called Anez "the Father of Sprite Comics" for his role in popularizing the phenomenon, and directly credits a friend showing him Anez's Bob and George for his inspiration to make his comic. Regarding the use of sprites in a comic, Clevinger has said,
The "pixelated look" in webcomics that Bob and George popularized is also considered an influence on later original pixel art comics like Diesel Sweeties
Diesel Sweeties
Diesel Sweeties is a webcomic and former newspaper comic strip written by Richard Stevens III . The comic began in 2000, originally hosted at robotstories.com...
and Dinosaur Comics
Dinosaur Comics
Dinosaur Comics is a constrained webcomic by Canadian writer Ryan North. It is also known as "Qwantz", after the site's domain name, "qwantz.com". The first comic was posted on 1 February 2003, though there were earlier prototypes. Dinosaur Comics has also been printed in two collections and in a...
.
Fan community
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
s have over 10,000 registered users and over 500,000 articles posted. In many ways, the forums have grown to be almost completely disconnected from the main comic, as the community has flourished on its own. In an informal survey conducted of the Bob and George forum members, 82% of survey respondents claimed to read Bob and George on a regular basis, with the remaining 18% either reading it occasionally or not at all.
In addition to the main comic, the Bob and George site hosts a number of comics created by fans of the comic. These comics, which were selected by Anez for inclusion on the site, are known as "fancomics". Fancomics that have been determined by Dave to be of sufficient proven substance are referred to as "subcomics", and are linked to in their own area in the site. Almost all of the fancomics are sprite based. Many fancomics started out on the forums, and forum users often lend sprites to fancomic authors.
Cast
Mega Man
Mega Man is a video game franchise from Capcom, starring the eponymous character Mega Man, or one of his many counterparts. The series is well-known and comprises well over fifty releases, easily making it Capcom's most prolific franchise. As of December 31, 2010, the series has sold approximately...
series of games, as well as original characters created by Anez and others.
Main cast
- Mega ManMega Man (character)Mega Man, known as in Japan, is a cybernetic video game character, and the main protagonist of what has been referred to as the original Mega Man series developed by Capcom since 1987. The pixel art for the character was created by the designer of the original game in the series, credited under...
- Debatably the main star of the comic, Mega Man is a robot created by Dr. Light. Usually acts very stupid, though he is clever at times. His primary mission is to destroy evil robots and stop Dr. Wily; his secondary mission is to be an idiot due to being reprogrammed by Wily earlier in the comic. This is how the strip explains his determination and cunning when dispatching Wily and his Robot Masters, while being completely inept and juvenile at all other times. - Proto Man - Created by Dr. Light, Proto Man is the older robotic brother of Mega Man. He is considered a strategic fighter and one of the more mature characters in the comic, though he's often seen joking with the other characters.
- The Author - The Author is the (nearly) all-powerful being who made the comic. The Author often appears to see how things are going, but tries not to get directly involved in the story. He appears as a blue/purple palette swapPalette swapA palette swap is a practice used in video games, whereby a graphic that is already used for one element is given a different palette, so it can be reused as other elements. The different palette gives the new graphic a unique set of colors, which make it recognizably distinct from the original...
of Mega Man without his helmet. While the Author began as a metafictionMetafictionMetafiction, also known as Romantic irony in the context of Romantic works of literature, is a type of fiction that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction, exposing the fictional illusion...
al device, he ends up becoming more of a standard character as the strip progresses, albeit one possessing the ability to alter the reality of the comic's world. See fourth wallFourth wallThe fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
. - Bob - The younger, evil, and more mature, brother of George. His alter-ego is Napalm, a super-powered being with control over fireFireFire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....
. He is very adept at programmingComputer programmingComputer programming is the process of designing, writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining the source code of computer programs. This source code is written in one or more programming languages. The purpose of programming is to create a program that performs specific operations or exhibits a...
. He is a grey palette swap of Proto Man, with red hair underneath his helmet. His abilities in combat and his intelligence surpass most of the other characters, to the point he's referred to himself as a Mary SueMary SueA Mary Sue , in literary criticism and particularly in fanfiction, is a fictional character with overly idealized and hackneyed mannerisms, lacking noteworthy flaws, and primarily functioning as a wish-fulfillment fantasy for the author or reader...
. - George - The "real" star of the series, he is portrayed as being heroic where his younger brother, Bob is villainous. His alter-ego is Blitz, a super hero with control over lightning. George is a light blue and grey palette swap of helmet-less Mega Man with blonde hair. George's personality was originally based on a friend of Dave's, but has since strayed significantly from this portrayal.
Villains and Adversaries
- Dr. WilyDoctor Wily, full name Albert W. Wily, is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the original Mega Man series of video games. Designed by Keiji Inafune, he appeared in the first Mega Man video game and later in promotions and other media related to the series...
- An evil scientist plotting the downfall of Mega Man and Dr. Light, and the primary villain of the game parodies. Wily often explains his plans in overheard soliloquyMonologueIn theatre, a monologue is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience. Monologues are common across the range of dramatic media...
, a long running gagRunning gagA running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling....
in the series. - Mynd - A Sigma-lookalike from another dimension, who managed to do serious damage to the cast in their initial confrontation. Mynd's main weapon is his beam saber and advocates strictly close-range combat, and has nearly impenetrable defenses. Anez put the character in the comic by request from a fan's sprite edit http://bobandgeorge.wikia.com/wiki/Mynd.
- Helmeted Author - Also known as "Helmut" and Fistandantilus (or "Uncle Fisty" as Mega Man calls him). An Author from another dimension who wears a helmet which restrains his powers. Without the helmet, he has dark gray SephirothSephiroth (Final Fantasy VII)is a fictional character in the role-playing game Final Fantasy VII developed by Square Co. He is introduced there as the main antagonist. Character designer Tetsuya Nomura wanted his role in the story to be different from the other Final Fantasy villains while his design is intended to contrast...
-style hair, and also sports a grey color scheme. He is the titular character of Helmeted Author Quips, a subcomic which was at times displayed in the space beneath the main comic on the website. - X - Dr. Light's most advanced robotic creation, X is a super-advanced robot from 100 years in the future with the ability to think for himself. The star of the Mega Man X games. X has taken multiple roles in the comic: being a straight man to Mega Man's antics, a spirit guide for George, the main villain between the fifth and sixth game parodies, and a hero in his own timeline.There is a consistent homosexual relationship implied between X and Zero, though no specific relationship is ever defined.
- ZeroZero (Mega Man)is a video game character present throughout the Mega Man franchise. First appearing in the 1993 game Mega Man X for the Super Nintendo, Zero has since been the star of the Mega Man Zero series and has played a supporting role in other game series such as the Mega Man ZX series.First developed by...
- X's friend and an advanced robot created by Dr. Wily. Upon activation, he went on a rampage that caused the Cataclysm, an event which separated the original Mega Man era from the Mega Man X era. Zero was defeated by members of the cast, and was put into a 100-year sleep. He became good sometime after awaking from this hibernation. There is a consistent homosexual relationship implied between Zero and X, though no specific relationship is ever defined. - The Shadowy Author - Sometimes shortened to "Shador," he is the author of the Rockman Universe, a Mega Man universe based on the Japanese version of the Mega Man games. He is shown as being neither friend nor foe to the cast. The character has interfered in the events of the primary universe on several occasions. The comic's final strip revealed that the true Shadowy Author was really The Author the whole time, having blamed himself for the deaths of the main cast - and working to prevent it.
Storyline
The plot of Bob and George involves various re-tellings of the plot from the Mega ManMega Man
Mega Man is a video game franchise from Capcom, starring the eponymous character Mega Man, or one of his many counterparts. The series is well-known and comprises well over fifty releases, easily making it Capcom's most prolific franchise. As of December 31, 2010, the series has sold approximately...
video games, interspersed with the characters interacting and sometimes battling villains of Anez's own creation. Time travel
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
and inter-dimensional
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
travel are common occurrences, with many of the characters hailing from dimensions (or times) other than that of the main continuity. This leads to a number of temporal paradox
Temporal paradox
Temporal paradox is a theoretical paradoxical situation that happens because of time travel. A time traveler goes to the past, and does something that would prevent him from time travel in the first place...
es.
Story lines frequently involve breaking the fourth wall
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
, with the strips' Author being a regular character. A running theme of the comic is that most, if not all, of the characters are fully aware that they are in a webcomic.
External links
- Bob and George website
- Interview with David Anez
- Bob and George: The Wiki
- A history of the comic's production, as described by a short series of comics from March 2005.