Red Meat

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"It's true... no man is an island. But if you take a bunch of dead guys and tie 'em together, they make a pretty good raft." —Bug-Eyed Earl

Not sure it's possible, but here goes. Red Meat is a three-panel gag-per-day comic by Max Cannon that started in 1989 before moving to the web in 1996. It specialises in crossing the line twice, starring a host of bizarre characters talking in supposedly normal situations that are turned on their heads by the punchline. Stark, motionless art and a lack of backgrounds add to the feeling of straight-faced madness.

Recurring characters:

• Milkman Dan, the most evil and depraved milkman ever. Forever in conflict with his boss, customers and his eternal foe Karen, the little girl.
• Ted, the devoted family man with some very strange hobbies.
• Bug-eyed Earl, whose viewpoint of reality is at 37.34572 degrees to the rest of us.

Main website here. Not as active as it used to be -- posts repeat or touched-up strips, but there are some new ones as well.

Examples of Red Meat include:

• Added Alliterative Appeal
• Butt Monkey: Ted's son.
• Comedic Sociopathy
• Cut and Paste Comic: A deliberate choice, as Max wanted the text to stand out.
• Dead Baby Comedy
• Chew Toy: Johnny Lemonhead
• Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Each comic is given a bleakly funny title that describes the general tone of Red Meat.
• Intercontinuity Crossover: An early example: Mr. T vs. Red Meat.
• King of All Cosmos: God is a jerk.
  • Papa Moai sees all, knows all -- but can't be bothered to help a little boy because it'd strain his back.
• Negative Continuity
• Planet Eris
• Recycled in Space
• Robot Buddy: Mr. Bix is a subversion. A vomiting, kid-microwaving subversion.
• Smug Snake: Milkman Dan tries to be a Magnificent Bastard and usually succeeds. It makes getting pwned by little Karen all the funnier.
• The Voice: We never see Ted's wife, just her speech bubbles.