The Webcomics Company
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"I'll cut that bit out."
—Zoe Kirk-Robinson
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The Webcomics Company is a podcast by five (originally four) webcomic writers and artists from the UK and Ireland. They discuss current issues in the world of Web Comics, talk about how they make their own comics, and generally try to give helpful advice to anyone interested in making a comic of his own.
The members of the team are:
- Zoe Kirk-Robinson, artist and co-writer for All Over the House and The Life of Nob T. Mouse. She is also head writer of The Webcomic Builder;
- James Spence, artist and writer of Dr Sheep And The Aardvark and Girls in Space;
- Luke Healy, writer and artist of Swanny Nook and Pint Size Pixel;
- Luke Surl, writer and artist of Luke Surl, and
- Matt Dyson, the newest member, artist and co-writer of Moo & Keo.
Tropes used in The Webcomics Company include:
- Attention Deficit Creator Disorder - James noting that Zoe listing her projects during the intro takes up a sizeable portion of the podcast.
- Berserk Button - Although it is in a decidedly British manner, note Zoe's reaction to the mention of counting your Twitter and Facebook followers.
- Blatant Lies - Count how many times Zoe says she will edit something out of the final cut.
- Catch Phrase - It's early days yet. but three have emerged already:
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Luke Healy: "So yeah..." |
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- Did Not Do the Research - The team can never remember the URLs of one another's comics.
- Or sometimes even their own.
- Lampshaded in episode 17 when the team talk about "rugby":
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Matt: "Basically in Rugby you have two rugby teams who rugby against each other and whoever rugby's the hardest is the winner!" |
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- Also this exchange:
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Zoe: "No human has a built-in virus check". |
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- Five-Man Band - Although actual roles vary from episode to episode, the overall personalities of the crew follow this pattern reasonably well:
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- Jingle - Re-cuts of the intro are spaced throughout the show as bedding tracks for info dumps.
- Overly Long Gag - When being "badge buddies" turns into a Saturday Morning Cartoon about people who summon a giant fish robot to fight crime.
- Podcast - Well duh.
- Sarcasm Mode - Luke Healy "can't see any possible setbacks" in a plan to upload brains into robotic bodies.
- Shout-Out - Count the number of references to 1980s cartoons.
- Super-Hero Origin - Did you hear about The Woman in Armenia who downloaded the Internet into her brain? The intro to Episode 20 explains it all.
- The Teaser - The show regularly provides pre-intro edits about what the team will be talking about.