Sinfest
Encyclopedia
Sinfest is a webcomic
written and drawn by Japanese-American comic strip
artist Tatsuya Ishida. The first strip as a webcomic appeared on January 17, 2000, although the very first strip appeared in print on October 16, 1991 in the UCLA newspaper, Daily Bruin
, while Ishida attended UCLA. A new strip is published daily on the Sinfest website
. On July 9, 2006, the Sinfest website underwent a redesign, and became self-published, no longer a member of Keenspot
.
, but larger Sunday strip
s with full color were introduced shortly after Ishida broke away from Keenspot
in the summer of 2006, which also coincided with a site redesign. Starting around late February 2007 Sinfest's style changed, and it was for a time drawn with different shades of grey. This change in itself was commemorated in a strip. Historically, the strip has been updated more or less every day, but the period leading up to the split saw significantly fewer comics, with two unexplained dry-spells lasting at least a month. Since the new site was introduced on July 10, 2006, there has been a new strip every day.
The subject matter of Sinfest is often human nature
, with particular attention paid to sexuality
, gender
roles, addiction
and religion
. Less frequently, the strip will parody popular culture
or indulge in political commentary. There are some recurring types of strip, such as "You Had to Be There" (where the reader is not told what the characters are discussing), "Japanese Calligraphy" (where one of the characters transforms over four panels into a kanji
ideograph, usually related to the strip in some way.), "Porn Script Readings" (where Monique and Slick read porn star dialogue in deadpan
style, except for once where they used flash cards for a Silent Film reading) and "Ninja Theatre" (where the characters take on the roles of heroes and villains in a martial arts
movie). Though there is little in the way of overarching story or continuity in Sinfest, the central characters do undergo some development.
In each strip, a unique epigram
appears above Ishida's name, for example: "Da Bomb," "Patent Pending" and "Some Assembly Required." The new-style Sunday strips include no epigrams.
s eleven times as of January 25, 2006.
Sinfest has appeared in print in the form of anthology
books, released by Ishida's own production company Museworks. So far, four books have been published:
In Norway
, Sinfest has appeared in the comic magazine Nemi
. Unlike the web version it was colored before printing (in addition to being translated) and the epigram
was cropped.
In June 2009, Dark Horse Comics
republished the first volume of compiled strips and added a bonus section entitled Sinfest: The College Years (When It Was Even Worse). A note from the author introduces the section by admitting that "Sinfest used to be even cruder and harsher back when I did it for my college paper. The original cast had no Monique, no Pooch, no Percy. And certainly no Buddha. It took years and years for me to learn the value of the soft touch."
As of February 2010, Dark Horse has announced it will republish the second volume.
A two-page strip, without the usual epigram, entitled Sinfest: Street Poetry appeared in the May 2009 issue of Dark Horse Presents
.
". Monique is a stylish young woman whose interests include spoken word, fashion, politics and general self-promotion. The two are friends, but Slick frequently makes moves on Monique which are continuously rebuffed. Apart from these two, Sinfest features a vast number of characters who may go missing from the strip over long periods of time only to return later when they fit into the plot. Some of these are listed below, alphabetically.
Many of the laptops and books in the series belonging to the characters also have anthropomorphic properties. For instance, Slick's laptop once rescued him from Hell
after being corrupted by malware
, and Fuchsia has given Criminy a book that has been "demon
-ized" that is now effectively his pet.
for Dark Horse Comics
, where he worked on comic book
s of the licensed properties G.I. Joe Extreme
and Godzilla
. In the 1990s he co-created and penciled a comic called StrangeLove for Entity Comics with partner Stacy Freeman.
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....
written and drawn by Japanese-American 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....
artist Tatsuya Ishida. The first strip as a webcomic appeared on January 17, 2000, although the very first strip appeared in print on October 16, 1991 in the UCLA newspaper, Daily Bruin
Daily Bruin
The Daily Bruin is the student newspaper at the University of California, Los Angeles.-Frequency and governance:When classes are in session, the Bruin is published Monday through Friday during the school year and once a week on Mondays in the summer quarter.It is overseen by the ASUCLA...
, while Ishida attended UCLA. A new strip is published daily on the Sinfest website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
. On July 9, 2006, the Sinfest website underwent a redesign, and became self-published, no longer a member of Keenspot
Keenspot
Keenspot is a webcomics portal founded in March 2000 by cartoonist Chris Crosby , Crosby's mother Teri, cartoonist Darren Bleuel , and Nathan Stone.-History:...
.
Overview
Originally, all strips were pure black and white line artLine art
Line art is any image that consists of distinct straight and curved lines placed against a background, without gradations in shade or hue to represent two-dimensional or three-dimensional objects...
, but larger Sunday strip
Sunday strip
A Sunday strip is a newspaper comic strip format, where comic strips are printed in the Sunday newspaper, usually in a special section called the Sunday comics, and virtually always in color. Some readers called these sections the Sunday funnies...
s with full color were introduced shortly after Ishida broke away from Keenspot
Keenspot
Keenspot is a webcomics portal founded in March 2000 by cartoonist Chris Crosby , Crosby's mother Teri, cartoonist Darren Bleuel , and Nathan Stone.-History:...
in the summer of 2006, which also coincided with a site redesign. Starting around late February 2007 Sinfest's style changed, and it was for a time drawn with different shades of grey. This change in itself was commemorated in a strip. Historically, the strip has been updated more or less every day, but the period leading up to the split saw significantly fewer comics, with two unexplained dry-spells lasting at least a month. Since the new site was introduced on July 10, 2006, there has been a new strip every day.
The subject matter of Sinfest is often human nature
Human nature
Human nature refers to the distinguishing characteristics, including ways of thinking, feeling and acting, that humans tend to have naturally....
, with particular attention paid to sexuality
Human sexuality
Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
, gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
roles, addiction
Addiction
Historically, addiction has been defined as physical and psychological dependence on psychoactive substances which cross the blood-brain barrier once ingested, temporarily altering the chemical milieu of the brain.Addiction can also be viewed as a continued involvement with a substance or activity...
and religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
. Less frequently, the strip will parody popular 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...
or indulge in political commentary. There are some recurring types of strip, such as "You Had to Be There" (where the reader is not told what the characters are discussing), "Japanese Calligraphy" (where one of the characters transforms over four panels into a kanji
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
ideograph, usually related to the strip in some way.), "Porn Script Readings" (where Monique and Slick read porn star dialogue in deadpan
Deadpan
Deadpan is a form of comic delivery in which humor is presented without a change in emotion or body language, usually speaking in a casual, monotone, solemn, blunt, disgusted or matter-of-fact voice and expressing an unflappably calm, archly insincere or artificially grave demeanor...
style, except for once where they used flash cards for a Silent Film reading) and "Ninja Theatre" (where the characters take on the roles of heroes and villains in a martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
movie). Though there is little in the way of overarching story or continuity in Sinfest, the central characters do undergo some development.
In each strip, a unique epigram
Epigram
An epigram is a brief, interesting, usually memorable and sometimes surprising statement. Derived from the epigramma "inscription" from ἐπιγράφειν epigraphein "to write on inscribe", this literary device has been employed for over two millennia....
appears above Ishida's name, for example: "Da Bomb," "Patent Pending" and "Some Assembly Required." The new-style Sunday strips include no epigrams.
Sinfest in print
According to the "Futility Watch" that was on the website previous to the July 9, 2006 redesign, Sinfest had been rejected by newspaper comic syndicateSyndicate
A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies or entities formed to transact some specific business, or to promote a common interest or in the case of criminals, to engage in organized crime...
s eleven times as of January 25, 2006.
Sinfest has appeared in print in the form of anthology
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
books, released by Ishida's own production company Museworks. So far, four books have been published:
- Sinfest ISBN 0-9724663-0-4 (published November 21, 2002)
- Life is My Bitch ISBN 0-9724663-1-2 (published November, 2003)
- Dance of the Gods ISBN 0-9724663-2-0 (published October 26, 2005)
- Sinfest: Viva la Resistance ISBN 1-5958242-4-3 (published January 4, 2011)
In Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Sinfest has appeared in the comic magazine Nemi
Nemi (comic strip)
Nemi is a Norwegian comic strip, written and drawn by Lise Myhre. It made its first appearance in 1997 under the title Den svarte siden...
. Unlike the web version it was colored before printing (in addition to being translated) and the epigram
Epigram
An epigram is a brief, interesting, usually memorable and sometimes surprising statement. Derived from the epigramma "inscription" from ἐπιγράφειν epigraphein "to write on inscribe", this literary device has been employed for over two millennia....
was cropped.
In June 2009, Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
republished the first volume of compiled strips and added a bonus section entitled Sinfest: The College Years (When It Was Even Worse). A note from the author introduces the section by admitting that "Sinfest used to be even cruder and harsher back when I did it for my college paper. The original cast had no Monique, no Pooch, no Percy. And certainly no Buddha. It took years and years for me to learn the value of the soft touch."
As of February 2010, Dark Horse has announced it will republish the second volume.
A two-page strip, without the usual epigram, entitled Sinfest: Street Poetry appeared in the May 2009 issue of Dark Horse Presents
Dark Horse Presents
Dark Horse Presents was the first comic book published by Dark Horse Comics in 1986 and was their flagship title until its September 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was published on MySpace, running from July 2007 until August 2010...
.
Characters
The more-or-less constant centre of the strip is constituted by the characters Slick and Monique. Slick is an inept womanizer and self-proclaimed "pimpPimp
A pimp is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The pimp may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing a location where she may engage clients...
". Monique is a stylish young woman whose interests include spoken word, fashion, politics and general self-promotion. The two are friends, but Slick frequently makes moves on Monique which are continuously rebuffed. Apart from these two, Sinfest features a vast number of characters who may go missing from the strip over long periods of time only to return later when they fit into the plot. Some of these are listed below, alphabetically.
- ArielAriel (angel)Ariel is an archangel found primarily in Jewish and Christian mysticism and Apocrypha. Generally presented as an authority over the Earth and its elements, Ariel has also been called an angel of healing, wrath & creation....
and EzekielEzekielEzekiel , "God will strengthen" , is the central protagonist of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible. In Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Ezekiel is acknowledged as a Hebrew prophet...
: CherubPuttoA putto is a figure of an infant often depicted as a young male. Putti are defined as chubby, winged or wingless, male child figure in nude. Putti are distinct from cherubim, but some English-speakers confuse them with each other, except that in the plural, "the Cherubim" refers to the biblical...
s who work for God and try to spend their time helping the other characters. Sometimes they pose as evangelistsEvangelistsEvangelists may refer to:* Evangelists , Christians who specialize in evangelism* Evangelists , one of the five Ascension Gift Ministries* Four Evangelists, the authors of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament...
in disguise and go door-to-door preaching love and goodness. - Baby BlueBaby BlueBaby blue is a color.Baby blue may also refer to:In music:* Baby Blue , a female rapper from London* "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue", a 1965 song by Bob Dylan* "Baby Blue" , a 1971 song by Badfinger...
. A 'Devil girl'SuccubusIn folklore traced back to medieval legend, a succubus is a female demon appearing in dreams who takes the form of a human woman in order to seduce men, usually through sexual intercourse. The male counterpart is the incubus...
(succubusSuccubusIn folklore traced back to medieval legend, a succubus is a female demon appearing in dreams who takes the form of a human woman in order to seduce men, usually through sexual intercourse. The male counterpart is the incubus...
) whose job includes tormenting lost souls and tempting humans. Baby Blue is the Devil's personal secretary and in charge of keeping records for him. - Baby New YearBaby New YearThe Baby New Year is a personification of the start of the New Year commonly seen in editorial cartoons. He symbolizes the "birth" of the next year, and that the "old" year is gone; in other words, a "rebirth"...
and Father TimeFather TimeFather Time is usually depicted as an elderly bearded man, somewhat worse for wear, dressed in a robe, carrying a scythe and an hourglass or other timekeeping device...
. Each New Year's EveNew Year's EveNew Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
a baby, the physical representation of the upcoming year, is brought by a stork in the Sinfest Universe. The baby grows into maturity and old ageOld ageOld age consists of ages nearing or surpassing the average life span of human beings, and thus the end of the human life cycle...
, and in the last strips of every year he's hunted down by 'Death', to make way for his new incarnation. - BuddhaBuddhaIn Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...
. A boy who floats around on a cloud. - Criminy. An intelligent, bespectacled youngster who often acts as the strip's lone voice of reason.
- CupidCupidIn Roman mythology, Cupid is the god of desire, affection and erotic love. He is the son of the goddess Venus and the god Mars. His Greek counterpart is Eros...
. Another cherubPuttoA putto is a figure of an infant often depicted as a young male. Putti are defined as chubby, winged or wingless, male child figure in nude. Putti are distinct from cherubim, but some English-speakers confuse them with each other, except that in the plural, "the Cherubim" refers to the biblical...
. Shoots magical arrows at people to make them fall in love. - DeathDeathDeath is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
. A grim reaper who works as a hitmanHitmanA hitman is a person hired to kill another person.- Hitmen in organized crime :Hitmen are largely linked to the world of organized crime. Hitmen are hired people who kill people for money. Notable examples include Murder, Inc., Mafia hitmen and Richard Kuklinski.- Other cases involving hitmen...
. - The Devil. Leads a business imperium and is generally involved in all kinds of addictive products (ranging from Squigley's porn to Seymour's Christian 'bling').
- The DragonChinese dragonChinese dragons are legendary creatures in Chinese mythology and folklore, with mythic counterparts among Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Bhutanese, Western and Turkic dragons. In Chinese art, dragons are typically portrayed as long, scaled, serpentine creatures with four legs...
. A celestial being that competes with God on a seemingly friendly basis. - FuchsiaFuchsia (color)Fuchsia is a vivid reddish or pinkish purple color named after the flower of the fuchsia plant, itself named after the German scientist Leonhart Fuchs...
. A 'Devil girl'SuccubusIn folklore traced back to medieval legend, a succubus is a female demon appearing in dreams who takes the form of a human woman in order to seduce men, usually through sexual intercourse. The male counterpart is the incubus...
who has developed a crush on Criminy and questions her actions as a succubus. - GodGodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
. Represented by a giant hand in the sky. Often uses a hand puppet to parody other characters - most often the Devil. - JesusJesusJesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
. A thin, bearded man who rarely speaks. Enjoys carpentry and basketball. - Lady LibertyLiberty (goddess)Goddesses named for and representing the concept Liberty have existed in many cultures, including classical examples dating from the Roman Empire and some national symbols such as the British "Britannia" or the Irish "Kathleen Ni Houlihan"....
and Uncle SamUncle SamUncle Sam is a common national personification of the American government originally used during the War of 1812. He is depicted as a stern elderly man with white hair and a goatee beard...
. A married couple. Uncle Sam is prone to depression and aggressive behaviour, and of unsound financial status. Lady Liberty is more caring and nurturing, but still prone to overreacting to perceived threats. - Li'l EvilEvilEvil is the violation of, or intent to violate, some moral code. Evil is usually seen as the dualistic opposite of good. Definitions of evil vary along with analysis of its root motive causes, however general actions commonly considered evil include: conscious and deliberate wrongdoing,...
. A wannabe 'devil boy' who tries hard to be evil and idolizes the Devil. Unbeknownst to him, he is seemingly the Devil's son (possibly making him the AntichristAntichristThe term or title antichrist, in Christian theology, refers to a leader who fulfills Biblical prophecies concerning an adversary of Christ, while resembling him in a deceptive manner...
). The opposite number to Seymour, he hoards Satanic 'fandom' effects (often humorous, non-threatening and nonsensical, as WiiWiiThe Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
pitchforks, a CerberusCerberusCerberus , or Kerberos, in Greek and Roman mythology, is a multi-headed hound which guards the gates of the Underworld, to prevent those who have crossed the river Styx from ever escaping...
-like pup and 'evil' cereals) and a large stash of weapons. - Master. The owner of Percy and Pooch. Draws a comic strip, implied to be Sinfest itself, or a metafictional rendition of it.
- PebblesPebblesPebbles may refer to:* Pebbles, small rocks* Pebbles , Boston-area radio DJ* Pebbles , British-trained thoroughbred racehorse of the 1980s* Pebbles Flintstone, a character in The Flintstones animated television show...
. A 'devil girl' who behaves outlandishly, wears rags and mainly speaks in one-word sentences, recently expanding to simple statements and mispronounced words. While Blue and Fuchsia have a stylish and sophisticated side, Pebbles is naive and childlike. - Percy and Pooch. A stereotypical catCatThe cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
and equally stereotypical dogDogThe domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
. Owing to their nature, Percy is independent and catty, while Pooch is dimwitted, but staunchly loyal to their common Master. - Seymour. A personification of Christian fundamentalistFundamentalist ChristianityChristian fundamentalism, also known as Fundamentalist Christianity, or Fundamentalism, arose out of British and American Protestantism in the late 19th century and early 20th century among evangelical Christians...
s. Hoards Christian 'fandom' effects like special-edition Bibles and novelty crucifixes. Harbors a deep-seated prejudice towards 'Devil people', despite having been shown to care for Li'l Evil, his opposite number. - The SisterhoodSisterhoodSisterhood may refer to:* Sibling, sisters and brothers* Sorority, a social organization for undergraduate students* Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, a novel by Rebecca Wells* The Sisterhood, a short-lived English goth band...
. A gang of diminunative feminist activists. - Squigley. Slick's sidekick, an anthropomorphicAnthropomorphismAnthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
pig who leads a shabby bachelor's life. Watches porn in the daytime and smokes a lot of potPotPot commonly refers to pottery, the ceramic ware made by pottersPot may also refer to:- Containers :* Plant pot or flower pot, a container in which plants are cultivated* Cooking pot, a stove-top cooking utensil* Chamber pot, a bedside urinal...
. Strangely, considering his extensive male chauvinism, he frequently dresses up in drag and takes on female personas (most prominently 'Sarah Piglin', a Conservative candidate for president whom Seymour idolizes).
Many of the laptops and books in the series belonging to the characters also have anthropomorphic properties. For instance, Slick's laptop once rescued him from Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
after being corrupted by malware
Malware
Malware, short for malicious software, consists of programming that is designed to disrupt or deny operation, gather information that leads to loss of privacy or exploitation, or gain unauthorized access to system resources, or that otherwise exhibits abusive behavior...
, and Fuchsia has given Criminy a book that has been "demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
-ized" that is now effectively his pet.
Landmarks
The Sinfest universe houses some peculiar landmarks, constant fixtures in many strips of the comic. Excluding the homes of singular character, if they don't have peculiar features justifying a mention, the most plot-relevant ones appear to be:- Master's House: Home to Percy, Pooch and Master. An ordinary house with drawing equipment, where Master creates his strips and resides when not interacting with his world.
- The Devil Booth: Homage to Lucy's booth in the Peanuts strip, it's a simple booth where the Devil tries to buy and sell souls. Later strips have the booth staffed with Fuchsia and Baby Blue, much later ones seemingly replaced the strips with a mobile station, staffed by Baby Blue alone.
- The Devil's House: A lavish mansion, housing many high-tech survellance apparata to keep all Sinfest's characters in check, Fuchsia and Baby Blue's room and a personal access to Hell (See hellholes). Home to many, lavish parties.
- Li'l Devil's House: Owing to Lil'Devil's nature as the selfstyled 'number one fan' of the Devil, the house is a complex mansion with a large cache of weapons (mainly Japanese swords and guns) and Devil paraphenalia. A pitchfork flag marks its spot, and several deadly traps are scattered all around.
- Hellholes: Since Hell in Sinfest is stereotypically placed below Earth, digging enough or summoning demonic powers may open large holes in the ground and effectively create portals to Hell. The Devil's home houses a permanent Hellhole. Some demonic creatures may escape the hellholes.
- The LetheLetheIn Greek mythology, Lethe was one of the five rivers of Hades. Also known as the Ameles potamos , the Lethe flowed around the cave of Hypnos and through the Underworld, where all those who drank from it experienced complete forgetfulness...
River: The river of forgetfulness. While dipping a body part in the Lethe may cause numbness, diving or drinking from it can make people forget everything about themselves. Buddha's Awakening touch is the only known cure to Lethe-induced forgetfulness. - The Reality Zone: Located in the woods around the town, it's a place where characters gain realistic proportions and qualities (for example, Squigley becomes a mere pig, Slick becomes taller and more proportioned). Imaginary creatures and antropomorhized items, like Hell's pitchforks (flying pitchforks with their own minds) can't survive in the Reality Zone: placed there, they die, only to spring back to life when returned to the Sinfest Universe.
- The Trans-State: A section of the woods where the characters become gender-bent version of themselves.
Author
Tatsuya Ishida is the author of Sinfest. He was also a pencillerPenciller
A penciller is an artist who works in the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms.The penciller is the first step in rendering the story in visual form and may require several steps of feedback with the writer. These artists are concerned with layout to showcase...
for Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
, where he worked on comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s of the licensed properties G.I. Joe Extreme
G.I. Joe Extreme
G.I. Joe Extreme is the name of a short-lived line of military-themed toys by Hasbro, a two-season cartoon show by Sunbow Productions, and two 4-issue comic mini-series by Dark Horse Comics. It is a sequel of sorts to the previous G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero TV series, with a one-shot pack-in...
and Godzilla
Godzilla (comics)
Godzilla has appeared in a range of comic books that have been published in Japan and the United States.-Japanese Godzilla comics:In his native Japan, Godzilla has been featured in various comic books since his inception in 1954. These comics for the most part were black and white publications...
. In the 1990s he co-created and penciled a comic called StrangeLove for Entity Comics with partner Stacy Freeman.