Diesel Sweeties is a 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....

 and former newspaper comic strip

Comic strip

A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....

 written by Richard Stevens III (R Stevens). The comic began in 2000, originally hosted at robotstories.com. From January 2007 until August 2008 it was syndicated to over 20 United States newspapers, including major daily newspapers like The Detroit News

The Detroit News

The Detroit News is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. The paper began in 1873, when it rented space in the rival Free Press's building. The News absorbed the Detroit Tribune on February 1, 1919, the Detroit Journal on July 21, 1922, and on November 7, 1960,...

 and Houston Chronicle

Houston Chronicle

The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...

.

Material from Diesel Sweeties appears in Ted Rall

Ted Rall

Ted Rall is an American columnist, syndicated editorial cartoonist, and author. His political cartoons often appear in a multi-panel comic-strip format and frequently blend comic-strip and editorial-cartoon conventions. The cartoons appear in approximately 100 newspapers around the United States...

's Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists

Attitude: The New Subversive Cartoonists

The Attitude series of books is a series of anthologies of alternative comics, photos and artists' interviews edited by Universal Press Syndicate editorial cartoonist Ted Rall. The books were designed by J. P. Trostle, news editor of EditorialCartoonists.com. Two sequels and three spin-off titles...

, along with other webcomics such as Cat and Girl, 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...

, Boy on a Stick and Slither

Boy on a Stick and Slither

Boy on a Stick and Slither is a webcomic by Steven L. Cloud.Strips usually feature a short, pithy and sometimes surreal exchange between the title characters. The strip is characterized by dry and cynical humor....

, Fetus-X, and The Perry Bible Fellowship

The Perry Bible Fellowship

The Perry Bible Fellowship is a newspaper comic strip and webcomic by Nicholas Gurewitch. It originated in the Syracuse University newspaper The Daily Orange. The comics are usually three or four panels long, and are generally characterized by the juxtaposition of whimsical childlike imagery or...

.

Stevens is a co-founder of the Dumbrella

Dumbrella

Dumbrella is an alliance of webcomic artists who promote one another's sites, travel to conventions, and sell merchandise together. It is also the name of the website of that alliance, which serves as a shared weblog and an active forum community with over 10,000 registered users .The current...

 alliance of webcomic artists. Since 2002, Stevens has supported himself through online sales of merchandise related to his comics.

Newspaper syndication

In late 2006, Richard Stevens announced that Diesel Sweeties would be syndicated to newspapers through United Features Syndicate

United Media

United Media is a large editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States, owned by The E.W. Scripps Company. It syndicates 150 comics and editorial columns worldwide. Its core business is the United Feature Syndicate and the Newspaper Enterprise Association...

. To replace FoxTrot, which ended its daily run, some newspapers began the strip on January 1, 2007.
The regular distribution began a week later, on January 8. On June 26, 2008, Stevens announced that the print run of Diesel Sweeties would end on August 10 of that year. He had produced about 600 strips specially for the newspapers. Stevens cited exhaustion from doing a dozen strips per week, as well as the fact that the majority of his income remained tied to the website.

Format

For the first several years, the comic consisted of four square panels of dialogue in a two-by-two grid, with a punchline (often a non sequitur, pun

Pun

The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...

, or pop culture

Popular culture

Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...

 reference) in the final panel. In 2005 Stevens abandoned this traditional form and began consistently publishing strips with more panels in slightly more varied configurations. Single panels of the strip are occasionally animated. The comic depicts a world where robots exist alongside humans, with human-robot romantic and sexual relationships commonplace. Although there is some character development and the occasional story arc, most strips are largely self-contained. Recurring themes include annual Halloween

Halloween

Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...

 strips, featuring characters from the comic in costume.

Characters

Diesel Sweeties incorporates many characters from other fictional works, from the real world, and introduces many original characters.

Main Characters (online version)

As defined by the Cast Page, the main characters in Diesel Sweeties are:

• Clango Cyclotron, an emotional robot
  Robot
  A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
  
  . Introduced as the boyfriend of Maura Glee, the relationship later ended, and he moved on to dating Pale Suzie. Pale Suzie later shot him with an orbital laser when she suspected he was cheating on her with Maura. He deliberately erased his memory so that he "can be even more innocent than (he) is now!". Unfortunately Indie Rock Pete intentionally broke the backup CD, and Clango had to be restarted with an old boot disk from his days with Maura. He thinks he is still dating Maura. He was adopted by human parents, and has several famous human aunts and uncles, including Steve Wozniak
  Steve Wozniak
  Stephen Gary "Woz" Wozniak is an American computer engineer and programmer who founded Apple Computer, Co. with Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne...
  
  , Beck
  Beck
  Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
  
  , Courtney Love
  Courtney Love
  Courtney Michelle Love is an American rock musician. Love is the lead vocalist, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist for alternative rock band Hole, which she formed in 1989, and is an actress who has moved from bit parts in Alex Cox films to significant and acclaimed roles in The People vs...
  
  , and Stan Lee
  Stan Lee
  Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
  
  . Introduced in strip #1.
• Maura Demeter Glee, (full name revealed in strip 1698 ) an alcoholic ex-pornstar
  Pornographic actor
  A pornographic actor/actress or a porn star is a person who appears in pornographic film. Most actors appear nude in films...
  
  . Introduced as Clango's girlfriend, she got dumped for cheating on him. After Clango had his memory erased without a recent backup Maura provided an old one and thus they are now back together. Introduced in strip #1. After an around the world bender, Maura was allegedly shipped back to Clango as a brain in a jar, a situation recently resolved as of Friday 5th December 2008. (The jar turned out to contain Billy Brainjar, a minor character.)
• Indie Rock Pete (later found to be named "Peter Gaylord Weiner", much to his disdain in strip #1241), a poseur obsessed with the idea of maintaining a facade of indie cred. Attempts to manipulate the other characters, but usually fails. Pete works as a substitute high school teacher, and developed a crush on Frieda Berger, one of his students before finding out she was in high school. Introduced in strip #2. Apparently killed by gunshot to the head in strip #2307, but the strip's title ("not cannon"), may be a hint that it is not real, as is his appearances in strips after the incident #2309 anon.
• Lil' Sis, Maura's younger sister. Worked at a comic store for a time. Her name is generally not mentioned, but was once revealed as "Persephone Marie" in strip #1241. Was once featured in Questionable Content
  Questionable Content
  Questionable Content is a slice-of-life webcomic written and drawn by Jeph Jacques. It was launched on August 1, 2003. Jacques currently makes his living exclusively from QC merchandising and advertising, making him one of the few professional webcomic artists...
  
   (QC strip #171) as the girlfriend of a minor character. Introduced in strip #5.
• Electron Mike, an extreme technophile
  Technophilia
  Technophilia refers generally to a strong enthusiasm for technology, especially new technologies such as personal computers, the Internet, mobile phones and home cinema...
  
   who listens to techno
  Techno
  Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
  
   and collects iPod
  IPod
  iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...
  
  s. Has a hate/hate relationship with Red Robot, and would rather recompile his Linux kernel than introduce effort into anything non-electronic. Introduced in strip #558.
• Metal Steve (found to have the last name "Wozniak" in strip #1819), a mullet
  Mullet (haircut)
  The mullet is a hairstyle that is short at the front and sides, and long in the back. . The mullet began to appear in popular media in the 1960s and 1970s but did not become generally well-known until the early 1980s...
  
  -sporting rocker. The virginal yin to Pete's lecherous yang. He has had ongoing flirtations with both Lil Sis and Pale Suzie, but neither has successfully bedded him. Implied to be unusually well-endowed (strip #767); he was briefly recruited by Maura as a porn star for masturbation movies, but was run out of the business for refusing to work with a partner. Married Allie V. (Allison Vegetoksis) a dreadlocked vegetarian from L.A. that he "corrupted" with bacon, after his refusal for "dirty desertie" (he was saving himself for marriage), she proposed and they married (strip #2108). Introduced in strip #76.
• Pale Suzie, a cheerful goth
  Goth subculture
  The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...
  
   chick and occasional furry
  Furry fandom
  Furry fandom is a fandom for fictional anthropomorphic animal characters with human personalities and characteristics. Examples of anthropomorphic attributes include exhibiting human intelligence and facial expressions, the ability to speak, walk on two legs, and wear clothes...
  
   who went on a date with Clango, while he and Maura were "on a break". She dated Clango for several months, but after she accused Clango of cheating on her with Maura (after they had been playing "wii" together), he had his memory erased so that he "can be even more innocent than (he) is now!". Unfortunately Indie Rock Pete broke the backup CD and now Clango is unaware he ever dated Pale Suzie. She is in a relationship with Charles. Introduced in strip #436.
• Red Robot #C-63, a robot
  Robot
  A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
  
   dedicated to the crushing of hu-mans
  Human
  Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
  
  , although he has also been known to date them on occasion. He is insanely wealthy after making a deal with Maura. Introduced in strip #24.
• OtaKate, a blue-haired otaku
  Otaku
  is a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime, manga or video games.- Etymology :Otaku is derived from a Japanese term for another's house or family , which is also used as an honorific second-person pronoun...
  
   girl introduced in strip 1711 as a result of Pale Suzie's online dating mishap (Suzie thought Kate was a man pretending to be a woman). Probably bisexual. Through her profile on "DeathwishDamsels.com"
  SuicideGirls
  SuicideGirls is a website that features softcore pornography and text profiles of goth, punk and indie-styled young women who are known as the "Suicide Girls"...
  
  , she meets Indie Rock Pete. Later she becomes involved with Electron Mike, but dumps Mike hoping to bed Pale Suzie. After Suzie rejects her, she decides on "stuffy older men" and starts dating "Uncle Larry", a philatelist-porn producer.
• Freyja Tryggvason a tall, dark-haired girl ("The Strongest Woman on Earth") introduced in strip 1973 answering Indie Rock Pete's ad for a drummer in his band. Her background is explained in strip 1976 where we are told she is "The daughter of a Norwegian Diplomat and an all-star women's basketball coach, raised on genetically modified corn in Nebraska, she has always been the tallest girl around". She is Red Robot #C-63's current girlfriend.
• Allie Vegetoksis a vegan, non-violent, dreadlocked, trustafarian hippie. She is Metal Steve's wife.

Minor Human Characters

Generally in the order of appearance. Also includes some animals.

• Collin, a technician who occasionally repairs Clango. Introduced in strip #16.
• Joel, a computer programmer. Introduced in strip #21.
• Charles, the token Canadian
  Canada
  Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
  
  . Introduced in strip #63.
• Eve:Bisexual
  Bisexuality
  Bisexuality is sexual behavior or an orientation involving physical or romantic attraction to both males and females, especially with regard to men and women. It is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation, along with a heterosexual and a homosexual orientation, all a part of the...
  
  , she dated Lil Sis briefly, as well as Red Robot. She also went through a Christian
  Christianity
  Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
  
   phase. Introduced in strip #163.
• Pretty Carl, Maura's annoying but handsome ex-boyfriend. Introduced in strip #325.
• Nipples the Bear, a weird furry who always wears a blue bear costume with nipples. Nipples is implied to be a stand-in for Rich Stevens, the author. Introduced in strip #338.
• Ghost Zack, a goth boy who sometimes hangs out with Pale Suzie. Does not like Suzie's generally cheery disposition. Introduced in strip #442.
• Super Raoul, a shiny Hispanic who shows up occasionally. Introduced in strip #617.
• Kevin, a heavy-metal friend of Metal Steve. Introduced in strip #1244.
• Myspace Girl (Kaitlyn), a hipster
  Hipster (contemporary subculture)
  Hipsters are a subculture of young, recently settled urban middle class adults and older teenagers with musical interests mainly in alternative rock that appeared in the 1990s...
  
   who is into marine biology
  Marine biology
  Marine biology is the scientific study of organisms in the ocean or other marine or brackish bodies of water. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies species based on the environment rather...
  
   for the seahorse
  Seahorse
  Seahorses compose the fish genus Hippocampus within the family Syngnathidae, in order Syngnathiformes. Syngnathidae also includes the pipefishes. "Hippocampus" comes from the Ancient Greek hippos meaning "horse" and kampos meaning “sea monster”.There are nearly 50 species of seahorse...
  
  s, and living the sheltered college life. Engages in witty repartee and has been known to hit on Indie Rock Pete, though has recently married a man she met while on holiday in England, much to Indie Rock Pete's chagrin. Introduced in strip #1477.
• Library Anne Winowiecki, a lesbian librarian that Pete hits on. An ex-lover of Maura's. Introduced in strip #2395.

Minor Non-human Characters

• Roger, Clango's orange cat. Introduced in strip #68 (but first mentioned by name in #128).
• John Stamos, Clango's black kitten. Although named after the male actor John Stamos
  John Stamos
  John Phillip Stamos is an American actor, singer and musician best known for his work in television, especially in his starring role as Jesse Katsopolis on the ABC sitcom Full House. Since the cancellation of that show in 1995, Stamos has appeared in numerous television films and series. From 2006...
  
  , the kitten is a female. Introduced in strip #856.
• Johnny Toaster, a toaster
  Toaster
  The toaster is typically a small electric kitchen appliance designed to toast multiple types of bread products. A typical modern two-slice toaster draws anywhere between 600 and 1200 W and makes toast in 1 to 3 minutes...
  
   of few words. Introduced in strip #7.
• Menace-11, a robot who is even more sinister than Red Robot. Also gay
  Gay
  Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
  
   and sometimes a cross-dresser
  Cross-dressing
  Cross-dressing is the wearing of clothing and other accoutrement commonly associated with a gender within a particular society that is seen as different than the one usually presented by the dresser...
  
   (when she prefers to be called Menace-Ellen). Introduced in strip #225.
• Menace-10, Menace-11's father. Introduced in strip #352.
• Uncle Grandpa, a Macintosh SE
  Macintosh SE
  The Macintosh SE was a personal computer manufactured by Apple between March 1987 and October 1990. This computer marked a significant improvement on the Macintosh Plus design and was introduced by Apple at the same time as the Macintosh II....
  
   computer, and Clango's Uncle Grandpa. Once ran for office. Introduced in strip #235.
• Torpor, a polite friendly robot who likes to lift things. Torpor is often a target of abuse for Red Robot and Menace-11—although once in a bit of turnabout he tore Red Robot's head off (strip #954)—and has been dismantled and rebuilt at least once. Introduced in strip #670.
• Bango, Clango's robot double. Introduced in strip #434.
• Adrianne, an automated teller machine
  Automated teller machine
  An automated teller machine or automatic teller machine, also known as a Cashpoint , cash machine or sometimes a hole in the wall in British English, is a computerised telecommunications device that provides the clients of a financial institution with access to financial transactions in a public...
  
  . Introduced in strip #784.

Cameos from Other Comics and Fiction

• DIV from Penny Arcade
  Penny Arcade (webcomic)
  Penny Arcade is a webcomic focused on video games and video game culture, written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. The comic debuted in 1998 on the website loonygames.com. Since then, Holkins and Krahulik have established their own site, which is typically updated with a new comic...
  
  in strip #42.
• Red Robot from Explodingdog
  Explodingdog
  explodingdog is the name of an internet web site run by Sam Brown, pseudonym of Adam Culbert. Viewers of the site e-mail Brown short phrases for inspiration and he picks certain ones to illustrate...
  
  in many strips, starting with strip #24.
• Roger from When I Grow Up in strip #79.
• Shelley Winters and Fallon Young from Scary Go Round
  Scary Go Round
  Scary Go Round was a webcomic set in the fictional West Yorkshire town of Tackleford, England, and written by John Allison. Scary Go Round was named one of the best webcomics of 2004 by The Webcomics Examiner. The Sunday Times describes it as "postmodern Brit horror" that is "subtle and stylishly...
  
  in strip #245.
• Shockwave
  Shockwave (Transformers)
  Shockwave is the name of several fictional characters in the various Transformers series. Throughout his incarnations, he is usually distinguished by a laser cannon in lieu of one of his hands and his distinctive face, which is featureless save a single robotic eye...
  
  from Transformers in strip #223.
• Tycho from Penny Arcade
  Penny Arcade (webcomic)
  Penny Arcade is a webcomic focused on video games and video game culture, written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. The comic debuted in 1998 on the website loonygames.com. Since then, Holkins and Krahulik have established their own site, which is typically updated with a new comic...
  
  in strip #85 and #131.
• Weedmaster P from Overcompensating in strip #1338.

Cartoons of Real People

Diesel Sweeties often shows pixelated versions of real people in the strip. Some of these people include:

• Richard Belzer
  Richard Belzer
  Richard Jay Belzer is an American stand-up comedian, author, and actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as John Munch, which he has portrayed as a regular cast member on the NBC police drama series Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as well as in guest...
  
  in strip #1471.
• Ann Coulter
  Ann Coulter
  Ann Hart Coulter is an American lawyer, conservative social and political commentator, author, and syndicated columnist. She frequently appears on television, radio, and as a speaker at public events and private events...
  
  in strip #803.
• Glenn Danzig
  Glenn Danzig
  Glenn Danzig Glenn Danzig Glenn Danzig (born Glenn Allen Anzalone; June 23, 1955 is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, entrepreneur, and a progenitor of the horror punk subgenre of music. He is a founder of bands the Misfits, Samhain, and Danzig...
  
  in strip #666.
• Sabrina Eldredge in strip #39.
• Beck Hansen (Beck)
  Beck
  Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
  
  in strip #578.
• Adolf Hitler
  Adolf Hitler
  Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
  
  in strip #368, #536, #693, #782, and #809.
• Richard D. James (Aphex Twin)
  Aphex Twin
  Richard David James , best known under the pseudonym Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born electronic musician and composer described as "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music"...
  
  in strip #260.
• Xeni Jardin
  Xeni Jardin
  Xeni Jardin is an American weblogger, digital media commentator, and tech culture journalist. She is known for her position as co-editor of the collaborative weblog Boing Boing, as a contributor to Wired magazine and Wired News, and as a correspondent for the National Public Radio show Day to Day...
  
  in strip #1471.
• Stan Lee
  Stan Lee
  Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
  
  in strip #715.
• Scott McCloud
  Scott McCloud
  Scott McCloud is an American cartoonist and theorist on comics as a distinct literary and artistic medium...
  
  in strip #187.
• Barack Obama
  Barack Obama
  Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
  
  in strip #1685.
• Joe Biden
  Joe Biden
  Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr. is the 47th and current Vice President of the United States, serving under President Barack Obama...
  
  in strip #2134.
• Ozzy Osbourne
  Ozzy Osbourne
  John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
  
  in strip #154.
• Jonathan Pater a.k.a. Cowboy Neal in strip #183 and #1244.
• Arnold Schwarzenegger
  Arnold Schwarzenegger
  Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
  
  in strip #748.
• Richard Stevens (the author himself) in strip #1525, #1805, #1806, #1807, #1925, #1983, and #2424.
• Corin Tucker
  Corin Tucker
  Corin Lisa Tucker is a singer and guitarist, best known for her work with rock band Sleater-Kinney.- Early life :In the early 1990s, Tucker attended Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, where she studied film, political economy, and social change...
  
  in strip #150.
• Steve Wozniak
  Steve Wozniak
  Stephen Gary "Woz" Wozniak is an American computer engineer and programmer who founded Apple Computer, Co. with Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne...
  
  in strip #138 and #1471.
• Jeffrey Zeldman
  Jeffrey Zeldman
  - External links :* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * , , and A List Apart Web Surveys* * , "Boagworld", 2010-03-31* "InformIT Network"* , Khoi Vinh's Subtraction, 2006-10-10* , "DMXzone.com"* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *...
  
  in strip #37.
• Wil Wheaton
  Wil Wheaton
  Richard William "Wil" Wheaton III is an American actor and writer. As an actor, he is best known for his portrayals of Wesley Crusher on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gordie Lachance in the film Stand by Me and Joey Trotta in Toy Soldiers...
  
  in strips #2209 and #2210.

Main Characters (newspaper version)

Comics.com described the strip as "reformatted" for family newspapers. Here are the reformatted stories of the main characters:

• Clango Cyclotron is a robot, a nice guy, and as red-blooded a male as a robot can be. He has been dating Maura Glee for some time and trying his best to understand humans.
• Maura Glee is a retired dot-com investor (or porn star) who cashed out before the market went south in, presumably, 2000. She is bored, but loves Clango, to the exclusion of others, especially human males. Her hobbies include drinking and more drinking.
• Indie Rock Pete composes music that nobody will hear. He manages a video store that refuses to rent movies that have been released on DVD. He discusses matters of the world with Clango.
• Lil’ Sis is Maura’s younger sister. She has recently moved in with Indie Rock Pete, but alas, it's platonic. She longs for Pete, but he's not buying.
• Metal Steve is a real musician, a true rocker. Lil' Sis is interested in him as well.
• Red Robot #C-63 has a mission, which is to kill every human on the planet. This, however, doesn't prevent him from exchanging bits of philosophy with the others in the pixelated crew, human and otherwise.
• Mr. Bear appears infrequently.

Other new characters for the newspaper version included TV, Coffee Maker, and Kitten. Together, they rule the household.

External links

• Official website
• Diesel Sweeties at Comics.com (from Internet Archive
  Internet Archive
  The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
  
  )
• Diesel Sweeties at Unitedfeatures.com (from Internet Archive
  Internet Archive
  The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
  
  )