Shortpacked! by David Willis
Toys are serious business.
Convention appearances:
Calgary Expo Calgary, AB: April 26-28
Phoenix Comicon Phoenix, AZ: May 23-26, 2013
BotCon San Diego, CA: June 28-30
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego, CA: July 18-21
SPX Bethesda, MD: September 14-15
Phoenix Comicon Phoenix, AZ: May 23-26, 2013
BotCon San Diego, CA: June 28-30
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego, CA: July 18-21
SPX Bethesda, MD: September 14-15
Multiplex
Sorcery 101
Templar, AZ
The Transformers Wiki
Hail to the Slash
80 page GIANT
Axe Cop
The Book of Biff
Butt-Taco
Comics Curmudgeon
College Roomies from Hell!!!
Diesel Sweeties
Dinosaur Comics
Dr. McNinja
Dresden Codak
Fans!
Fleen
Gastrophobia
Girl Genius
Girls with Slingshots
Goats
Hark, a vagrant
Hijinks Ensue
Intrepid Girlbot
Legend of Bill
Medium Large
Not Invented Here
Octopus Pie
Overcompensating
Penny Arcade
PhDcomics
Power Nap
Questionable Content
Real Life
Rob and Elliot
Bad Machinery
Schlock Mercenary
Sheldon
So Far Apart
Something Positive
Two Lumps
Wapsi Square
Wonderella
Wondermark
Frumph.NET
Sorcery 101
Templar, AZ
The Transformers Wiki
Hail to the Slash
80 page GIANT
Axe Cop
The Book of Biff
Butt-Taco
Comics Curmudgeon
College Roomies from Hell!!!
Diesel Sweeties
Dinosaur Comics
Dr. McNinja
Dresden Codak
Fans!
Fleen
Gastrophobia
Girl Genius
Girls with Slingshots
Goats
Hark, a vagrant
Hijinks Ensue
Intrepid Girlbot
Legend of Bill
Medium Large
Not Invented Here
Octopus Pie
Overcompensating
Penny Arcade
PhDcomics
Power Nap
Questionable Content
Real Life
Rob and Elliot
Bad Machinery
Schlock Mercenary
Sheldon
So Far Apart
Something Positive
Two Lumps
Wapsi Square
Wonderella
Wondermark
Frumph.NET
Tags
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conventions
dark of the moon
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drew
duncan
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faz
galasso
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guest strip
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jacob
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justice league
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merch
mike
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©2005-2013 David Willis | Powered by WordPress with ComicPress | Subscribe: RSS | Back to Top ↑
UH OH NEW LOVE INTEREST
Love… dodecihedron? What was it again?
Love Dodecahedron.
D’aww, Bison lost his girlfriend… It was on a Wednesday it happened.
I see what you did there.
Aaaand no my addiction is back!
Thanks for that!
I was clean for a whole year!
Daaaaaamn you, I just managed to close my 14 tab large tab of tvtropes!!
I think what you mean is “Here Comes a New Challenger.”
Oh man. Poor Bison. KEN. Fuck.
Epic!!!
He kinda looks like a Chun-Li to me,little bit effeminate there…
OH BOY MORE LESBIANS!
Gotta agree with staticwings19 on this one.
That being said, it is Leslie and I’m not opposed to seeing her happy again.
I’m starting to think that straight women are rare in the SP! universe.
SP! is set in San Fransisco. So yes, they are.
So they go a few thousand kilometers for coffee at Coffee of Doom (Questionable Content coffee shop that sometimes crosses over, for the uninitiated)?
For the sass, it is worth the journey.
The coffee shop is in SF in the Walkyverse.
Art imitates life yet again.
There’s no conclusive proof Malaya is gay yet. She’s just exploiting Leslie’s weakness for her own benefit. I could see her using Leslie up to a point, too…
Well, depends. If Malaya turns out to be a bitchy lesbian who uses Leslie, then this comic has shown only negative lesbian relationships. If instead Malaya turns super-nice and everything goes super-happy, then this comic will have an example of a positive lesbian relationship.
And yes, the former (negative) also applies if Leslie and Malaya are happy, but Malaya snipes at the other friends.
Robin and Leslie had a positive relationship for awhile. Nothing is constant in life though so it’d be kind of weird if every relationship reached a stasis.
And EVERY SINGLE STRAIGHT RELATIONSHIP is candy and rainbows and sunshine? It seems like every relationship in SP! is traumatic in some way or another. Except maybe Ethan, with his mild “my boyfriend thinks I have too many toys” drama. It’s not some “David’s out to prove that lesbians/queer women have two options: death or insanity” thing.
This comic has no positive relationships, lesbian or otherwise.
Shortpacked is a drama tag universe. People don’t randomly meet based on jobs or where they live or shop. They pop into being with the personalities and sexuality that is required by the drama tag to maintain its own existence.
Nah, look at her face in the second panel. She’s gone all googly-eyed and smiley. Haven’t seen that expression on her before now.
how can that possibly be construed as a bad thing
I just hope Willis doesn’t end this strip with a text story where everyone becomes lesbians.
Since the lesbian density of the strip will be pushing 95 percent by that point, it’ll have to be a story where everyone becomes straight and has babies. Like the Harry Potter epilogue.
Didn’t Willis make fun of that one webcomic where everyone became lesbians?
I am not sure which one it was but now that joke is starting to seem hypocritical.
Or I can be wrong and he didn’t make fun of it and then it is not hypocritical at all.
…you’re too young.
What he was making fun of was Avalon, a high school comic that ran in real time, so it was meant to end at graduation in 2002, but the last year saw epic schedule slip until the author threw in the towel in ’04 and posted a summary of what the rest of the strip would have been. Most of it was pretty much expected, but a minor surprise was that the main character’s best friend revealed she’d had a crush on her all along (in the 99-00 year, she and others had suspected this, and there were rumors about that they were dating, but she let it go after learning more about her friend’s past, although her probing on the issue left her friend suspecting she was gay; even though she never brought it up, it’s suggested this was part of her friend’s concern about her primary love interest), and although the rest of the conversation would have been off-panel, her next scene implies she’s at least considering it.
The joke was really about the text-based epilogue, though, not that twist. Those were the days when Keenspot reigned supreme, and this was one of the most popular comics, so it’s still pretty raw.
…that may be the most awkward parenthetical I’ve written since my last LISP program.
Uh Balrog I think Malaya may not be playing for your team.
On the plus side, this might cut down on the time Fei Long was going to waste on her!
Depends on how thick Vega is or not. He might not realize the truth right away.
ryu can CHANGE HER! malaya just hasn’t been with the right guy yet, and blanka’s out to set her straight, so to speak.
You’re right. As long as Balrog still has hope, he can win Malaya’s heart. I believe in you, E. Honda!
I believe Sagat didn’t know his roomie swung that way. He just saw her as an awkward nerd.
Hey, now. Bisexuals exist. Guile might still have a chance.
I never saw them getting together in the 1st place because it seemed Liu Kang was just trying to get her to earn her way around the house… so he didn’t have to bicycle kick her out to the curb.
Whaddaya mean “wrong vide- ” ooohhh!
I mean, uhm, Sodom just wanted her to pay the rent and actually be the only sane character in SP!… >_>’
- a_o_t_8.
Yes! I called it. Sort of, maybe. I called that she was a lesbian.
Have we seen this background before? Looks detailed. Nice work on it.
A new challenger approaches?!
I just snapped from being ambivalent about Malaya to liking her so quickly that I think I gave myself a headache.
But darn if that isn’t one cute “Hi” face.
Lesbianim makes EVERYONE more likable!
Unfortunately this just makes her seem two-faced to me. :p
Why? It’s not like she’s leading ken on, we have no idea if she even knows how he feels, and up until now, she probably hasn’t really met anyone she considers nice enough or attractive enough to pursue (at least not by her standards). Just because she wasn’t introduced going “whussap bitches? I like girls!” doesn’t make her decietful for revealing it now. I’m sorry if that wasn’t what you were referring to.
Nah, I mean how she’s a bitch to everyone and then as soon as she wants something she gets all nice. I understand that there’s going to be a degree of that with being interested in someone but it’s like night and day.
Also, I find it amusing how many people are already assuming Ken’s interested in her because he’s trying to help her out with something he personally enjoys.
LESYAY.
Poor Ryu… the one person who knows his name just ditched him. Things are (possibly) looking up for Leslie though!
Your avatar makes “things are looking up” line absosmurfly hilarious.
Poor Ken… *lol* But hey possible new love interest for Leslie! Yay!
Ken? Who’s Ken? Oh, you mean Dee Jay?
Because, of course, what the strip didn’t have enough of was more gay people.
I kid of course, though you have to wonder if there’s some sort of gay magnet buried underneath the toy store or something.
I think it’s called “San Francisco.”
It’s a webcomic, general rule of thumb for webcomics is thus:
If a new female character is introduced she WILL be a lesbian…
not sure why… gotta say i’m getting tired of seeing EVERY webcomic go the “every girl is a lesbian direction”
I know! Questionable Content is the worst for that! Faye and Hannalore always lusting after all the girls. I find it offensive!
oh yeah hannelore is the worst, always groping people and rubbing up all over them, making out with anyone, she’s such a slut.
You know what I find tiring? Girls are either lesbians or straight, there’s no such thing as bi. ಠ_ಠ
Crap. Guess I don’t exist then. -ploink-
Uhhh, Robin?
And QC’s Dora, last I checked.
Yeah, I know that there are examples of it but the *majority* of the time it has to be one or the other. And even then, they’re usually portrayed as just being loose as opposed to being selective, just not regarding gender.
I’m talking more about people’s perceptions of gay people versus what’s in the webcomic. I understand Robin’s bi, but do you think Robin understands that?
Does she think that she *has* to be straight or gay? Her actions kind of indicate as such.
Go read Menage a 3 then :p
I’d say Zii’s more of an any-sexual.
Sounds like there should be an ‘All Male Webcomic Writers Are Yuri Fanboys’ trope if that is the case.
There is: Girl On Girl Is Hot
Couldn’t let poor Balrog be happy for long could you Willis.
Damn ProtonCon already called Balrog. Man I can’t catch a break just like poor old Dan up there.
D’aww, Malaya is adorable. <3
Man Cammy has no idea that Malaya is a sassy saphic ummmm… something. Couldn’t come up with a word for a complete aliteration. sorry.
Sassy Sapphic slut?
When the words all start with S sounds, alliteration is called sibilance
Somehow I sincerly slighted that sibilance is the alliteration of the S. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.
I could’ve suggested sylph, which can refer to a slender girl with an airy spirit.
Oh my god that word is perfect. Ading it to my vocabulary ASAP.
Wow totally saw this coming. Now all robin has to do is go after conquest and you have the makings of some great porn.
I thought it was going to be Mike that Malaya went after.
again?
The odds of Malaya being back for Day 2 just spiked.
My thoughts exactly.
Heh. My first reaction to this update was “Is there one person in this comic that’s straight?” Then I realized that if I weren’t a bi woman engaged to another bi woman, that could sound…wrong. >.<
Ken is straight. That’s why he’s pathetic.
Uh, Amber? Mike? And I know he’s had sex with Ethan but he did it to screw with Amber so I’m not certain if that counts.
Amber, yes.
Mike… as he himself put it, “I’m whatever you don’t want me to be.”
Or alternatively, he’s yourmomsexual. For a nickel.
TV Tropes has him listed as a “Depraved Bisexual,” and as we all know, TV Tropes is the ultimate authority.
jacob
faz
galasso (i guess?)
ninja rick
ronald reagan
batman
sydney yus
does ultra car count?
Ultra Car is totally a stick shift.
I think Galasso is assexual
Objection. Ninja Rick is bi, he’s slept with Faz remember?
As far as we know, Faz has been the only sheath for his sword.
Did Conquest ever try to get him?
The question remains; will Leslie return the interest?
Aww, yeah! Did you see the way Malaya lit up in the 2d panel?
It’s “twoo blev”. Now she hopes to have fun “stormin’ the castle”! ;D
i’m still waiting for her to meet mike. won’t be as funny as ditching ken, or love-triangling as this strip, but it will be interesting
That is a lot of copies of Apples to Apples Jr.
Poor Vega. Just trying to help her out…
Apples to Apples! That is the best game ever, of all time!
Don’t worry, Ken, it could be worse.
They could keep calling you names of King of Fighters characters.
He’s WAY too flat to be Shiranui Mai!
RUGAL BERNSTEIN
Now, that’s just rude! Treat TJ Combo with respect!
Or Guilty Gear.
But then again, if that were the case, Bridget might have a chance with Malaya after all…
Hahahaaaaa-! I had a feeling this would happen, because I asked myself, “why is Willis taking so many consecutive strips to introduce a new girl?” and the idea that she might be a love interest for Leslie cropped up in my mind. Though I didn’t really expect to be right.
Personally I disapprove. Malaya seems to be a kinda shitty person. I guess I’ll reserve judgment.
She is, AFAIK. That said, this is the first strip where she’s happy, so I see why some people are changing their minds. I don’t even hate her(much), now that she has emotions beyond passive-aggressive bitchery.
Nope. Not anymore. Now she has “spirit.”
I’m not sure you’re using “spirit” the correct way.
She curses and yells at people. That’s Spirit.
No, that’s spirits. Though I can see why you’d get confused.
You’re going to run through the entire Street Fighter line-up aren’t you?
You better because its an hilarious running gag and I love that sort of shit! Plus it beats the ‘who are you again?’ jokes by a mile!
It could be worse for E. Honda, the SP! staff could be mixing him up with the female characters of the franchise, such as Chun-Li.
Am I the only one thinking that Malaya might not actually like girls herself, but knows how to take advantage of those who do?
her face lit up before she knew leslie bean was a lesbian
Doesn’t seem to be supported by panel 2, where she treats Leslie like a movie star immediately, without knowing anything about her orientation. Whereas Amber and Robin got treated like puzzles or worse.
I’ve never really heard of someone who was manipulative only toward lesbians. Whatever Malaya’s flaws, deceptiveness doesn’t seem to be one of them.
Yeah, it looks to me like Malaya was just honestly disinterested until she found a girl she was interested in.
Nothing deceptive about it.
Then again, the drama tag has been pulled, so who knows…
Awww. Poor Flowchart.
I feel bad for Ken. The first story where he has anything to do, and immediately another character is stealing his spotlight and the hearts of the readers…
This is unsurprising, considering that Malaya has the gay-bangs.
Gay-bangs? Please elaborate.
You do realize that damn near every one of Willis’s characters have that bigass triangle bang, right?
Why does everyone get Blanka’s name wrong? Akuma is one of the highest teir characters in the series after all, so it it should be easy for everyone here to get Guile’s name right.. sheech!Guile
“twenty dollars! i’m not going to give you fifteen dollars! what do you need ten dollars for?”
How does Ken not know that his roommate is gay or bisexual particularly since he’s got an obvious crush on her?
What a silly question. She completely doesn’t know Ken exists other than “a roommate.” That’s no different from any other unrequited love interest.
I asked why KEN didn’t know. Not why Malaya. If Malaya is gay and has a thing for women and doesn’t show much thought for Ken, and Ken is so into her that he does whatever he can to be around her, then I doubt she’s been hiding her sexuality very well if at all.
I don’t think Ken asked “Can I get in your pants” when they decided to be roommates, otherwise she probably wouldn’t be there, as that would be doubly creepy.
No, but Ken is living with her, and now has a crush on her, and doesn’t realize she’s gay. How could he fail to know that? Malaya isn’t doing anything to hide her sexuality, and Ken can’t be that stupid to not not after living with Malaya for a while.
Wow in the comic for 3 days and she’s already been converted to a lesbian. That has to be some sort of record for Willis. (Leslie doesn’t count, she was introduced as the lesbian)
I am beginning to think that Shortpacked must be emitting some kind of gaydiation.
Must be using pinktonium.
“Converted” implies she wasn’t before. -_-
Agreed. It really bugs me when people say things like “turned gay” or “converted” because there’s none of that going on. Sexuality is honestly a really weird thing. I mean, there are cases of people who identify as straight and then finding this one person of the same gender who they’re incredibly attracted to. I wouldn’t say it’s common, but it happens.
Not only that but it implies that she was initially written to be gay. She’s not even been around for an entire week ffs!
Everyones Straight till proven gay!
Um, this is Willis we’re talking about. Everyone is Gay until proven Straight around here.
Pink Kryptonite like in the Supergirl Comics. It turns Superman gay.
Superman: “My Jimmy, but that bow tie looks smashing on you…”
Poor guy. At least he lost his big lips!
Another lesbian? I would have said that Malaya goes both ways. What do you call a bisexual Filipino? A “Flip-flop”!
Oops – put in the wrong e-mail address. I joked that a bisexual Filipino would be called a “Flip-flop”!
Oooooh. Oh, that is way more funny than it should be. XD
If Malaya makes unwelcome advances towards Leslie, will that be a Malayan Emergency?
KEN
IS
PATHETIC
So, wanna bet that the “Kill Ken” threads will start soon?
No. Because he is a dude.
So Rufus is the only Straight man in the book both comedic and sexuality?
That was a good one.
OOOH NO YOU DIDN’T!
Man, poor El Fuerte…
Apples to Apples! Soooo many! Yay!
Sucks to be Chun Li right now. I mean, Fei Long.
Shit.
This reminds me of my very favorite second-panel T-Rex ever:
“Lesbians!”
This is probably the only method of Malaya coming to like Shortpacked that won’t make me FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU…
Well done Willis. Well done.
Wow!
I did not see that coming.
She is sooo cute!
Oh, I see. Malaya’s one of those.
The plot thickens. http://www.dramabutton.com
Is Malaya the new Roz
Oh, I sense a love triangle. Poor Crimson Viper, being the only single straight must be hard.
I see a possible love triangle…but if Ken’s interested in Malaya (poor boy if he did), does it make it a love square? :/
It’s not a fact that E. Honda was crushing on Malaya, anyway. He could of been just super excited about finding his unemployed friend work.
please have Ninja rick call Ken Ryu-San
Oh my god – more lesbians! This is such total tokenism Willis, I don’t know how you can do this without being embarrassed? What, is she going to turn out to be a wiccan next? I can’t wait until this strip goes back to its roots of being only about straight white men, because that’s all I can handle reading about!
On a serious note, nice backgrounds. And I love the Street Fighter gag. Please make it a runner.
I find myself liking Dan the more I see him and disliking Malaya more with each strip she’s in.
HOT HOT SEXENGS!
Well played Willis.
So this is what, the fourth or fifth lesbian?
And all of them are cute, thin girls.
Why no butch dykes?
Oh, she’s a lesbian! That’s why she was being a bitch.
“Uh, hi Malaya.”
“Oh my god you’re so fucking straight and all whatever ugh!”
I can’t decide if this indicates that Malaya is into chicks or just that Malaya views herself as attractive enough to manipulate anyone who is.
Poor poor Hakan. Nothing ever goes his way.
That second panel, the adorbs, oh GOD.
:/….ok then time to destroy what was left of the relationship Leslie and Robin might have. Or maybe Leslie will deny her because she has hidden feelings for Robin still. :0 *Gasp* Or maybe Robin will be affected by this completely. ….AH MIND FUCK!
I want Leslie to deny her for calling Robin a slut yesterday. Poetic justice!
-airfox
I really appreciate Urien getting more screen time this arc. Poor guy.
So with the new lesbian Batwoman comic coming out, is this just a ploy to keep Shortpacked! the comic with the most lesbians per Batman?
You shouldn’t let statistics like that drive the plot, man.
She’s going to use Leslie, and eventually abuse her to facilitate the firing she wants, inadvertently helping Robin get back together with Leslie in the end of it all.
Street Fighter? I kept calling the guy Talbain. I was in the completely wrong Capcom fighter franchise. I can’t believe I’ve been getting El Fuerte’s name wrong for the past few weeks. Sorry.
At least you were in a fighting game. I could have sworn his name was Edgeworth.
I read that as “Taliban” and thought you were going for an entirely different joke.
I thought his name was Magma Dragoon.
Megaman X. Truly the greatest of the megaman franchises. Every time they announce a new one I get all excited hoping they’ll do it right again. Almost had it with ZX, but then they blew it with Advent.
God, there’s a franchise that should never have died.
This board game wall looks chaotic. The apples to apples and bop its are all over the place rather than in symmetrical rows.
Still kudos for drawing that stuff. It helps.
A love triangle between Leslie, Robin, and Malaya? This could be interesting.
DRAAAAMAAAA TAAAAAAAAG!!!!
awww, Lesbian is going to have her own lesbian
Poor guy.
He should probably just “go home and be a family man”.
Surprised there are no comments on how compatible Robin and Leslie are with both of them going for Street Fighter names.
Thank you!
First thing I thought after reading the first panel was that. Leslie and Robin, while having totally different personalities treat Ken the same? OMG! OTP! After all, Amber does not do it.
-airfox
It seems Malaya finally found something she liked on the store.
No, Willis, you cannot has a double minority. That’d be, y’know, unrealistic.
I tell the same to all of my co-workers.
Why do lesbians get all the girls…?
It’s about time this strip embraced the 21st century and finally introduced the theme of homosexuality.
Have you been reading this strip?
That was what we call sarcasm.
We do desperately need some kind of sarcasm font to be invented.
Poor T. Hawk, I know how that feels…
But cheer up Vega! there other girls around! I’m sure there is one for ya Guile!
I am very amused how the people in the comments have instantly adopted the whole Street Fighter thing for Ken.
It’s like Ken has become the ‘Most Triumphant Example’ of the ‘My Name Is Not Durwood’ trope.
I feel bad for Blanka. The poor guy just can’t catch a break, work- or girl-wise. Introduce a nice straight girl so Bison can have a proper relationship, Willis!
Yeah, nice to see Dan get some character development, at least. I hope things work out for Sean.
Oh hey Sodom. Oh Ken, well I knew it was something from Street Fighter.
Oh hey Akuma. Oh Ken, well I knew it was something from Street Fighter.
Oh hey Chun-Li. Oh Ken, well I knew it was something from Street Fighter.
Oh hey Pyron…no wait that’s from one of the Vampire/Darkstalkers games isn’t it? Uh…
Heh, still with the Street Fighter jokes, made me smile, it did. Street Fighter jokes are the new Faaaaaace. Can’t play along myself, I never played Street Fighter, was more of a Dead or Alive fan.
Malaya is cute, but I was hoping that she would be a female Faz.
Oh, Malaya. Looks like someone’s got a bit of a crush. (And I’m not even talking about Vega. Poor guy.)
*tries not to start liking Malaya just because of this* *can feel resistance slipping* DAMN YOU WILLIS
You can’t deny her face in the second panel is adorable, though.
With all the people immediately jumping to the “Now Malaya and Leslie will hook up” angle, shouldn’t Leslie…oh, I don’t know…like her first? Just because she’s a lesbian doesn’t mean that she’s going to hook up with someone just because they are lesbian too.
Oh noes! Oh yes! I can’t make up my mind whether I like this twist or not! Guess I’d better keep reading…
gpoy
…I may yet like Malaya.
why hasn’t Robin tried eating more Cadbury cereal to come up with a way to get Leslie back
I’m sort of ambivalent about this turn of events. I don’t really mind that the new girl’s got an interest in Leslie (and apparent categorical distaste for Robin), and I don’t mind the super-abundance of homosexuals at all. I’m just not excited about another ‘turn the knife’ storyline with Robin. For as much as this is (probably) going to be about Leslie, you gotta know it’s going to hurt Robin the most. And even if Leslie is not interested (which I hope she’s not, I really want her to patch things up with Robin) it’s probably going to resolve in some super absurd event — such as the recurrence of the Second Eaton storyline given that Ken just brought it up out of the blue a few page back.
Is it…. possible Shortpacked! is getting stale? Or maybe after 11 and 1/2 years of following Willis on a daily basis I’ve stopped being as surprised by his tales?
I guess we’ll see what happens. I reserve the right to change my mind.
In retrospect this was almost certain, statistically speaking.
In retrospect this was almost certain, statistically speaking.
Nooo!!! Leslie/Robin must never die!