PvP (webcomic): Difference between revisions

''[http://www.pvponline.com/ PvP]'' is a gaming webcomic started in 1998 by cartoonist Scott Kurtz. It takes place around the office of a small magazine production company that produces the gaming magazine "PvP", focusing mostly on the office antics of a straitlaced boss, his snobby best friend, their bratty sixteen year old intern, a naive, careless troll, and two frat boys. Over time, the cast gained a female counterpart to the intern, a love interest for the snob in the form of a feminist gamer, and some other characters. It originally started as a pastiche [[Affectionate Parody]] of video games and geek culture in general, moving away from that towards just being a slice of life comedy about its characters and an [[Affectionate Parody]] of every 80s sitcom ever made.

 

 

* [[Action Santa]] - Whenever Kringus shows up

* [[Art Evolution]] - compare [http://pvponline.com/comic/1998/05/04/mon-may-04 the first strip] with [http://www.pvponline.com/2010/05/31/the-king-and-aiiieeee/ this more recent one], or again [http://www.pvponline.com/2011/05/03/evening-wear/ this one].

* [[Art Shift]] - Kurtz did a Lolbat arc in the style of noir comics from [[The Thirties]].

* [[Author Avatar]] - Scratch is actually Kurtz's cat. As of Sept 16th, 2008, he can talk, has cool goggles, and a ray gun.

** Also, there is a dog in the strip, which was, and originally appeared as, Kurtz's dog. He later became Cole's. When the dog died in real life, the comic dog continued to appear.

** Lolbat villain the Mad Hater seems to resemble a younger Kurtz in appearance, but in personality seems based on those parts of the fanbase who dislike the Lolbat interludes.

* [[Bi the Way]]: [http://www.pvponline.com/2011/04/26/turn-of-the-bookworm/ Miranda, apparently]. Or maybe she's not, and [[Attention Whore|just likes attention]]. Or is just messing with her sisters.

* [[Brick Joke]]: In [http://www.pvponline.com/2000/01/24/mon-jan-24/ this] [[Pv P]] strip we get a punchline that looks like a throwaway line. Then, [http://www.pvponline.com/2008/05/23/falling-down/ eight] [http://www.pvponline.com/2008/05/26/change/ years] later...

* [[The Butler Did It]] - Not murder-related, but {{spoiler|Butler is the LOLBAT.}}

* [[The Ditz]]: Skull.

* [[Every Episode Ending]]: Every "Bulldog and Cooch" segment ends with their vehicle or house boat blowing up.

** Subverted in one comic where a [[Fourth Wall Mail Slot|fan letter]] points out that pandas are actually raccoons. I can't vouch for the validity of that statement, but the comic ends with Brent being mauled by a raccoon.

*** In this case, [[Science Marches On|Science marched onward]]. While biologists used to be divided on whether the Giant Panda was more closely related to raccoons or to bears, genetic testing has rather firmly placed them in the Ursidae family. They are, in fact, bears.

** And now everything's back to the panda apparently hating Brent, since he brews the best coffee in Seattle and won't sell it to Brent, the coffee fanatic.

* [[Expressive Mask]]: Scratch Fury as Kringus.

* [[I Did What I Had to Do]] - {{spoiler|Duck fires Cole}} and justifies it by claiming that {{spoiler|Cole is the reason the company is in such dire straits now. [[Jerkass Has a Point|Which is at least partially true]], since Cole did hide the company's floundering finances instead of seeking help earlier.}}

* [[I Hate Past Me]] - Somewhat played with. Duck is what Max once was. Max has a bit of a [[Heroic BSOD]] once he realizes what it's like to be on the other end.

* [[Intercontinuity Crossover]] - PVP has crossed over with Kurtz's other creations Captain Amazing and Samwise.

* [[Intoxication Ensues]]- Skull gets stoned on a bad orange julius and takes a job as a [[Mall Santa]] while high.

* [[Mall Santa]] - Skull becomes one while stoned on a bad orange julius.

* [[Mood Whiplash]] - Brent and Jade's wedding

** Inverted with Skull. Everyone in the comic can see Skull with the exception of Max Powers.

*** [http://www.pvponline.com/2010/04/09/deja-view/ Not anymore.]

* [[Proud to Be A Geek]] - The whole cast, with the exception of Jade. Even she might just be a different style of geek..

** Brent, actually is an aversion, and while he admits to "interests that coincide with nerdity" he denies being an actual nerd, which Francis (a straight example of this trope) calls him out on it. He's an avowed Apple geek who will buy ''any'' product they make, a D&D player, a gamer, he plays ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' with his wife (who's in many ways geekier than him), quotes movies constantly, has declared [[Joss Whedon]] his master, almost dropped out of college because he was hooked on Sega games, and consistently gets into arguments about genre fiction or gaming with Francis and Cole. [[Blatant Lies|But he's not a nerd. Definitely not a nerd.]]

** The trope is now moot, as Max is now [http://www.pvponline.com/2010/04/06/now-hire-zing/ an accepted member of the staff.]

* [[Running Gag]]: Several;

* [[So My Kids Can Watch|So My Dad Can Watch]] - [[Word of God]] says that Scott keeps it clean-ish for the sake of his father.

* [[Straight Man]] - Cole

* [[Superhero]] - Kurtz's earlier character Captain Amazing made an early appearance and earned a spinoff. More recently, we've seen Jingle Force Five (a Christmas-themed parody of the original [[X-Men]] lineup) and The Lolbat, a combination of [[Batman]] and the internet lolcat phenomena, whose [[Rogues Gallery]] is made up of [[Grammar Nazi|Grammar Nazis]].

** He also has a sidekick named [[Twitter|ReTweet]].

{{quote| Robbie "Okay everyone stand back. This thing absorbed decades worth of farts and it's going to go up like a roman candle."}}

* [[Versus Title]]

* [[Younger Than They Look]] - Cole, Brent, Robbie and Jase were college roommates, which suggests they're around the same age. Cole states in one early strip that he's ''about to turn 30''. He looks a solid 15 years older than Brent.

* [[Your Mom]] - [http://www.pvponline.com/2009/06/16/old-the-phone/ Expertly delivered by Francis.]