I have a guest comic over at Hijinks Ensue! That’s right, you get three comics from me today, because I’m a bad ass.
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
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faz
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©2005-2013 David Willis | Powered by WordPress with ComicPress | Subscribe: RSS | Back to Top ↑
Ohhhhhhh boy.
Ten cents says Malaya is going to try ot “fix” Leslie now.
That depends – is this a story week?
I suspect it’s not given Willis is gonna be at Botcon later this week, so he’ll want to take it easy.
The chapter title hasn’t changed, but that’s no longer a reliable indicator.
Story week or not, it’s hard to see how this could NOT lead somewhere sooner or later.
Malaya’s last line does show some hope for her future education. It seems she doesn’t think Ethan himself is a “dork.” His quiet security in his own identity might have countered her expectations and thrown her a bit.
Man, is it Botcon week already? Time flies…
Also, whom do I give the ten cents to if I turn out to be wrong?
Me.
Ten cents? Wow, that’s, like, two mom-shtuppings according to the Mike Currency Converter.
I’d say Leslie would turn her into a nerd as well.
I hope she becomes a Whovian. I’m not a Whovian, but we need some obscure fandoms represented in this comic.
Whovian? …. I would picture her more as a possible Cos-player/Yuri-Fan since we don’t have either of those yet either.
Or how about Gothic-Loli? All it takes is just one piece of lace for the bug to bite.
Also, Doctor Who is obscure now? When did that happen?
In the US, it’s a cult classic; it’s not nearly as mainstream as in the UK. It’s getting there, though, through positive word-of-mouth.
It used to be a cult classic. New Who is pretty well-known. It’s not as mainstream as, say, Star Wars, but it’s a stretch to call it obscure.
Dr. Who is obscure? What.
Am not!
Who?
That’s right.
Third base!
…aaannnddd profit!
“Whovian”? Cool, so that’s what they call Dr. Seuss fans.
Let the entertainment begin
I spy with my fanatic eye a Howard Lesse.
Not hard to notice him… he is in the tags…
And Katee’s face seems to say “Oh no, not ANOTHER one!”
Took me a second to notice him, but it was cool when I noticed.
Damn meant to reply to Coppermouth’s post.
Some people never change.
The person behind you once had a sister who was into chicks… unfortunately, a holier-than-thou mullet guy killed her, stole her girlfriend, and was promptly forgiven by everyone, including him and Uncle Sam.
If you’re referring to Ruth I thought she ran Dan off the road so he wouldn’t be killed in a wreck. And I can’t recall her being into girls, but I can’t seem to find the Walkypedia to verify this. Seriously with Malaya’s contempt for the geekdom that caters to the store’s clientel it’s a wonder she’s not assigned to work with Mike.
“Roomies! Redux” retconned a Ruth/Billie fling into the early days. And yeah, you’re right about the Ruth saving Danny’s ass thing. I suspect Brendan is merely being sarcastic.
I certainly hope so, because Danny isn’t really responsible for Ruth’s death. She could’ve easily let him get hit by that truck. It’s not like he forced her in front of it or anything.
Thanks and now that you mention that the whole conflict between Billie and Ruth in Dumbing of Age looks more like sexual tension.
Now that you mention this, Ruth is who Daisy really needs to get laid with, and I am shipping that combo.
Also great for drama, Daisy being Billie’s “boss”; if she and Ruth get together it’s a nightmare for Billie.
Where is this retcon?
http://www.dumbingofage.com/ (It’s also linked on this page, right below the convention appearances box.)
That’s not the thing they were talking about. (Dumbing of Age isn’t a retcon. It’s a new, separate continuity, and Ruth and Billie haven’t done any banging in it that I’m aware of.)
They are, however, talking about a short sequence of comics from “Roomies! Redux,” which published back in 2004/2005 and fills in some blanks in the old comics. Here’s where the sequence starts: http://itswalky.com/d/20050222.html (Be sure to keep clicking through the color comics which interrupt it. Man, that archive is a mess.)
(“Roomies! Redux,” even the Billie/Ruth sequence, isn’t really a retcon in the strictest sense. It doesn’t overwrite anything or change anything, and it adheres to how I always envisioned the characters. More of a proper flashback.)
“Holier than though Mullet Guy” Dude you have a really negative opinion of Danny don’t ya? Also he didn’t kill Ruth she died saving him from himself or something.
Also, that looks like a Scarlett costume to me (sans perruque)… maybe I just don’t watch enough Transformers.
Not Transformers – Battlestar Galactica – she’s dressed as Sackhoff’s character, Kara ‘Starbuck’ Thrace.
I <3 you.
Leslie’s into cosplay?
Considering how she discovered she’s into chicks, that makes me wonder if maybe she owns a Leia bikini. And if she ever got Robin to wear it.
Deny it all you wish, Willis, but this is now totally canon to me.:P
*From the Future.* Ahehehehe….
I thought Howard was dead.
Nope! Howard lives!
His sister Ruth though is very, very dead.
I love that! Can ever geek here give it up to Leslie. Whoo!
I thought Katee was blonde…?
Not these days: http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2010/10/csi-first-look-at-katee-sackhoff-as-det-frankie-reed.html
Ooh, I finally have a reason to watch a CSI show.
Seriously Malaya, what is your problem? Anyways, what is Leslie dressed as?
Seriously? She’s dressed as Starbuck from nuBSG.
I didn’t recognizer her costume either. Mind you, I never watched the new BSG. I guess I’m too much of a fan of the original to get into the new series.
But the new series is just so awesome. At least give the miniseries a try.
Oh, I tried. Believe me, I did. I watched some of the first season and ended up gritting my teeth the whole time. And then everyone kept on about how fantastic it was, so I figured I was just missing something and gave it another try and hated every second of it.
I’ll admit it manages to combine pretty and gritty quite well, but I could never get that little old-school fan voice out of my head. “Starbuck is a MAN and Cylons are supposed to be Cybermen knockoffs! Not seriously hot chicks!” … yeah, sadly, I’m one of “those” fans …
I have a similar reaction to The Office. Its like sitting through a root canal for me while everyone else laughs.
I ground my teeth through the whole series finally. You spend three seasons wanting the cylons to win, then you stop caring when everyone(including the factionalized cylons now) becomes raging douche hats. The second half of the last season is ok, up until it decides to get overly preachy. And honestly if I hadn’t just watched a few complete train wreck series before going back to finally watch the tail end of new bsg i might not have liked it that much.
I thought the first season was great. The second season was good but started faltering toward the end. The 180-degree turn it took at the season finale, and the hamfisted Iraq-war-analogy storyline that followed, turned me off completely. The breaking point was when I was cheering as a character died of poisoning, and I realized that that had been the only moment of joy I’d felt for at least six episodes. I caught a few sporadic eps after that, but I didn’t watch a minute of season 4. From what I’ve read, I’m glad I didn’t – the writers seemed to be on a mission to kill every halfway-likable character. To this day, I’m baffled at the high praise the show still gets. I honestly wonder how people can enjoy such a grinding, angry, haphazardly-plotted, unfulfilling exercise in despair.
See you in another decade, Howard.
HOWARD
that is all.
Ok, don’t shun me for this but I had to google Katee Sackhoff to find out who that was. Hilariously, google’s autosuggest feature first brought up katee sackhoff gay
Don’t feel too bad; I had to as well
Granted there are not many posts yet but still… I did not imagine that there would already be people wondering about Leslie’s cosplay. I mean I am hardly a hipster nerd but c’mon the new BSG was huge. No offence intended. After all my shame is that I really only know Beast Wars and *kinda* Beast Machines out of Transformers.
I showed this comic to a friend of mine once and he told me he didn’t get most of the jokes, then I read it again and was reminded what a huge nerd I am.
None taken, really. I love this comic series and I get lots of the jokes, but I have no idea who Ms. Sackhoff is or what she is famous for. I’ve been reading the comments and I have no clue what “nuBSG” is….ah well….you have your nerdom, I have mine….
Also should mention that the only stuff I know about transformers comes from this comic strip. I haven’t even seen the movies!
I was at Starfest 09 when she was there. OMG, she’s just such an awesome person.
BSG FTW!!!
Not even trying to make her a likable character are you, Mr. Willis?
Actually, the attitude she displays here is no worse than I’ve heard from every other Non-geek in the WORLD.
And I say that as a Star Trek fan… surrounded by people who mostly can’t tell Star TREK from Star WARS.
Lewdies who can’t kopat that should grow some yarbles.
She’s had some abrasive moments, but today her reaction is actually pretty typical of someone not acquainted with nerd subject matter. Mild interest in a new piece of trivia, followed by general indifference. Pretty much asking about another man’s hobby.
“You collect stamps? Huh… never met someone who does that before.” *Returns to work*
Of course panel 3 seems just a tad beyond the expected, but even then she seems more genuinely confused than condemning. It’s almost starting to seem like she might just not be unacquainted with nerdy subjects, but possibly has never met or properly spoken to a nerd before. She seems to regard the nerd as a strange creature one would actually travel to find. It’s actually kind of interesting to observe now. Her attitudes are beginning to seem akin of what one would expect of attitudes towards foreigners in a country that rarely sees any for for instance. Wonder what that means, if anything?
“Her attitudes are beginning to seem akin of what one would expect of attitudes towards foreigners in a country that rarely sees any for for instance. Wonder what that means, if anything?”
Nice observation, and I concur – I’d say that she is ignorant/inexperienced in a diverse range of people, or else ‘limited in understanding’.
“She seems to regard the nerd as a strange creature one would actually travel to find.”
This right here, I agree on. And this right here, means the girl basically had her head rammed -way- up her own rear-end, to miss the rise of the Geek and Nerd as a more-or-less socially acceptable social “type” over the last five to ten years. There is hope for her, albeit slim hope, since she is probably going to take a while to realize her intestinally-based reality she’s been blipped into, isn’t going to get her what she’s after.
Actually, at my last base, our squadron’s Chief had a toned-down version of that attitude towards nerd-dom (of course, I tend to embrace the Nerdiness in a Nerd Pride kind of way, so I bring a bit of it on myself).
I mentioned one day that I was traveling to Dallas for a sci-fi convention. He ribbed me about those being the places where you see fat guys dressed up in Star Trek costumes. I pointed out that I’d never run into anything like that in years of going to Cons.
That weekend, I ran into dozens and dozens of fat guys in Star Trek uniforms. I guess I just haven’t been going to the right conventions.
It’s not just that she’s unaware that people are fans, though that’s the main thing…it’s that her automatic response is to assume that the point is to make fun of people. She’s not just a non-nerd, she’s a non-nerd who thinks less of anyone who isn’t as “grown up” as she is.
Which is…yeah, pretty common. No less abrasive, though.
Leslie’s cosplay is kinda hot. Just sayin…
MAKE A FACEBOOK PAGE!!!!!!!!!
Side note: I was thinking about Shortpacked! one night in the shower (Somehow, i was thinking about porn first (and wasn’t masturbating) and Robin popped in my head). I think that either Leslie or Amber will end up pregnant and if it’s Amber, Mike WON’T be the father (I kinda expect it to be Jacob). If it’s Leslie, Ethan’s boyfriend will be the dad.
Never say men don’t think in the shower XD
I find it difficult to believe you weren’t masturbating while thinking this up.
Thinking about pregnant chicks while masturbating is Not one of the things I have ever done. joe on the other hand, maybe.
Malaya has been seeing what she wants to see. Her perception of the kind of people who likes “nerdy” things is very limited too, still no need to be that unpleasant about it. I am glad Ethan is patient enough, last time we need is somebody reaction badly and giving Malaya validation to her ideas of geeks.
arghh, I meant “last thing we need” not “last time we need” >.<
So, uh… Who the fuck is Burnsauce?
I asked Amanda Tapping the same question, and I’m not even gay…
Go Leslie!
Is it just me, or is Malaya’s attitude here just reeking of Billie–specifically, her presence in the 1998 flashback which shows her, Ruth and Howard at a Trek convention?
All now she needs to do is start drinking and get into journalism.
Therefore Malaya must some kind of TSUNdere with a capital TSUN.
And change her name to Hazel?
She has a very punchable face. For some reason.
Ive recently started watching BSG. And while its no Farscape, its amazing. Im kind of surprised.so many people here dont know the show or Starbuck.
Yeah, well, Dirk Benedict wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, y’know?
HOWARD!?!?!??!
(Darn you, Willis! I keep promising myself never to comment here but you keep inserting in the comic the only things that force me to break that promise! First it was mentioning Arby’s and hell, now its Howard! Dx)
Okay, I’m now giving Malaya the benefit of the doubt, simply because she’s obviously ignorant to geek culture (willfully or not). She still gets no free ride for her dick comment at the end of the other comic.
Also, Leslie-as-Starbuck is so amazingly adorable.
Why did you have to put that word and then “ride” into a sentence about Malaya? Why? I’m going to have that image in my head all day…and the worst part is knowing she’ll still have that annoyed look on her face!
Moments like these are to be savored, like a juicy orange slice.
Hehe… Something about the last panel with Leslie comes off as really adorable.
And Wow, so far Malaya remains pretty dang unlikable. I mean, she finds out that Ethan likes Transformers and is going to Botcon, and instead of say something like “Oh, okay” and dropping the subject, she instead calls Botcon and by an extension Ethan, dorky. And inadvertently she called Leslie a dork too because she went to a convention as well.
Rude.
I think what gets me annoyed the most about her is the superiority act she has going. She acts like EVERYTHING is beneath her. People, jobs, and even fun conventions. Aside from trying to get in good with Leslie, most likely for sexual reasons, I don’t think she’s said one positive thing that wasn’t forced out of her by someone else.
That in a nutshell. There are people who gripe and complain without being unpleasant (like, say, Ethan. We nerds love to rant about things we geek over). But everything about Malaya just points to her being an incredibly negative person, the kind who wouldn’t be happy if she got the world on a plate, and who’se just a drain to be around.
>Katee Sackhoff
>red hair
Willis, you know she ha-
*Googles*
Oh my.
But I thought Katee Sackhoff WAS gay?
Well, that’s certainly one more good reason not to print off this strip for her to sign at Comic Expo next month.
Lol, I wouldn’t worry about that! She’s a lot of fun and will probably love it.
So, after the Star Trek debacle, Howard has now converted to botcons. Interesting.
They’re probably at a Battlestar Gallactica con.
That would make sense. Didn’t watch B.G. much but from what i saw it would be definitely up his alley.
It’s great that Leslie looks more like Starbuck than Starbuck. Oh nerds, don’t ever change.
… I always thought that those BSG uniforms were oddly sexy, and Leslie running around in one does nothing to change that impression.
Nothing ‘oddly sexy’ about it. Half-zipped flightsuits over unisex tight tanktop/shortsleeve tops? Yes please!
I know it’s slightly not her fault before but now she’s been awful to 3 people in the one day shes been there. She just has such a bad attitude and I’m still not liking her for stealing Leslie away from Robin before she even knew Robin.
No “stealing” going on here. Robin and Leslie seperated.
You know, Malaya’s confusion is understandable. Looking at Ethan’s usual interaction with most toy collectors who come to the store, one would get the impression that he only took this job so he could criticize and make fun them to their faces. On top of that, she isn’t yet close enough to Ethan to get the “pleasure” of hearing him geek out at the latest toy news, or grouse about how the biggest problem he has with the collector community is other fans.
Lucky girl.
I keep hoping that someone will just have enough of Malaya and punch her repeatedly in the face. Or that she sleeps with Faz (that would be punishment enough for her rudeness I think).
Then Faz, upon losing his virginity learns he hates girls and ends up GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY.
Like everyone and their mother in this comic :I
He’s already slept with Ninja Rick.
Slept with?
Is my memory mistaken, or wasn’t it more of a gravity-induced non-consensual sexual encounter?
oh it was consensual, unwise, ill informed and possibly violent but consensual.
Your memory is indeed mistaken, they had slept together before the event you have described.
No, Leslie. No. At least she’s sensible enough to ask about a sister. (I really, really hated nBSG Starbuck.)
Love the random Howard appearance! And Katee Sackhoff. The two combined equals awesome comic.
Can we get a wallpaper/poster of Leslie in her BSG get-up? I kinda love it.
Seconded.
Third’d.
Fourthed
I don’t like Malaya much, but I’m hoping for more comics featuring M. Bison soon.
Never thought I’d miss Sydney…
If there’s one thing we don’t need in the comments, it’s a YUS man!
Leslie is CHEATING ON ROBIN! BOOOOO!!! CHEATER!!!!!
…You ARE kidding, right? A bit on the creepy stalkerish side, maybe, but how is she cheating on someone she no longer dates?
Willis is in competition for “nerdiest webcomic”, of course you should’ve seen Howard coming.
Besides, it’s a nice call back to the Roomies flashback.
Let’s keep it that way.
If Malaya has a problem with geeks, she’s in the wrong place. She’s in a toy store that caters to pop culture fanatics. All the other employees are either geeks, insane or assholes. And it’s probably better to not be one of the last two.
Hi! I need a professional perspective on Transformers 3. I mean, the 2nd one was so bad it crushed my little fangirl heart, but >.< ugh! the new trailer is so tantalizing!! What are your thoughts?
Transformers 2 was “written” during the writer’s strike, so if that’s what screwed it up, then Transformers 3 should be fine. Well, as fine as it can be.
Which is of course to say, “Why can’t Michael Bay just be the goddamn effects coordinator and let someone talented direct?”
Directed by JJ Abrams, Effects Coordinator Michael Bay. Make it happen.
And rid us of the stupid human characters. We don’t need them.
Unlike others I’m really enjoying the character of Malaya to be honest.
It’s a refreshing change to have a character who isn’t a ‘geek’ or instantly accepting of the culture because there are folks like that out there.
Malaya and Drew provide a nice counter-point to the insanity of the regular cast.
I engaged in conversation about Ruth’s death above, and yet somehow I feel this is the first time I’ve noticed Howard behind Leslie.
Is that Howard standing behind Leslie? I thought he was only into Star Trek.
Also, Malaya is an asshole. And I first noticed Wackd saying the same thing I did now. This is what I get for not seeing if other people have already said what I’m about to. But with 120+ comments, I’d rather not
Awww. Starbuck Leslie is super cute. And with Bekah, gawd, I wished Amanda Tapping had a gay twin sister…
Hey everybody it’s Howard