I have a guest strip over at Questionable Content! Ol’ Jeph was busy tonight gettin’ antibiotics, so I swiffed something up for him all quick-like.
Is “swiffed” a real word? If not, it is now.
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
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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
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©2005-2013 David Willis | Powered by WordPress with ComicPress | Subscribe: RSS | Back to Top ↑
Nepotist much?
…not that that’s the worst thing by far in this strip =p
Looks more like “get a damn job – any job, you hippy moocher” than nepotism to me.
I thought Nepotism was hiring family members. Now, I’m colorblind, but I think even I can tell that these people aren’t all directly related.
And since Ken isn’t the one doing the hiring, double fail on the definition.
yeah, at worst it’s favoritism, but even that’s a stretch
Nepotism is granting special favoritism to family -or- friends actually.
O…M..G… a ken strip w/o anyone asking who he is!? what have you done Willis?
Drew him somewhere that people actually know him!
Who is “Ken”?
I think he’s the fat one.
Are we sure he’s not that girl in the background?
I’m pretty sure that’s Ruth reincarnated.
It’s nice to meet some of Faz and Amber’s family.
Oh God no, the hair. Nooooooo……
“I think they’re really likely to hire someone with your particular… qualifications… look, just trust me and fill out the application.”
So far I like Malaya
Me too… and I know I shouldn’t. It’s always a huge pet peeve for me when people don’t get that beggars can’t be choosers. Those with no job don’t get to be picky about where they work. And yet… nothing. So far she seems pretty cool.
PSL is a powerful thing…
He said he wanted to be in charge of hiring a hot Asian chick. Does that mean he wants to jump her bones?
I thought so at first too.
But now it seems more likely that he just wanted his roommate to get an effing job because she’s basically mooching.
Exact words: He said that he wants to be charge of hiring “said asian chick” not “said hot asian chick.” Not that she doesn’t appear to be cute, at the very least.
Mayala is now awesome. Having someone entirely not nerdy in a strip full of nerd should be awesome.
She’s playing on a DS. That technically counts as nerdy. Just because she’s in denial doesn’t mean she isn’t one.
Oh, iPhone. That just makes it even nerdier!
She’s not playing videogames, she’s posting on facebook about how nerdy her nerd roommates are.
Which is a nerdy thing in of itself, come to think of it.
DS is more geek than nerd. A subtle distinction, and there’s a lot of crossover twixt the two, but an important distinction nonetheless.
How to tell if someone is a huuuuuuge nerd:
They seriously try to argue that there’s some kind of difference between geeks and nerds
How to tell if someone is a huge geek:
see previous answer
<3
And the iPhone is so mainstream that you can’t leave the house without tripping over an owner.
Being a jerk or looking down on people doesn’t make you un-nerdy either, even if that’s a common nerd misconception.
I don’t know, in my experience not a lot of non-nerds are going to use the term “neckbeard” in casual conversation. It’s kind of a gaming culture thing.
My bet is that she totally mystifies the rest of the Shortpacked! crew by being able to hold her own in a DnD edition war debate with a customer.
Malaya looks a tad like Amber….
…..she is Filipino, has freckles, a completely different hair style and colour and doesn’t have huge glasses blocking her face. How exactly does she look similar?
I’d say Arnold looks more like Amber and Faz.
I can see Faz growing a neckbeard just to impress Malaya.
And he will fail horribly at growing said neckbeard.
WTF is with the term “Neckbeard”? What is it? A beard on the neck aand nowhere else? Beard extending to the neck? Out of curiosity, I attempted to grow a beard long enough for it to reach my neck.. it never did. And now I can has a chin strap.
A neckbeard in terms of a beard is one that is mainly from the chin down the neck, with scant amounts on the jaw and cheeks. It is also used to refer to people who work in lower-level programming languages to prove their nerd cred, and for nerds that are socially awkward with their grooming habits.
A beard that results from neglecting to thoroughly shave the neck as well as the face.
I’m not hating the new girl
I look forward to seeing how Malaya and Mike will interact.
Mike would destroy her delusions of badassness.
For a Nickle. With her mother as a “visual aid”.
I’m thinking love at first sight. She seems exactly Mike’s type.
Galasso could always hire Arnold if he needs an employee with disabilities. It’s hard to go through life without a chin.
I suspect his inability of open his eyes is more debilitating.
How insensitive, the guy cleary has YoungBlood’s Disease
Nah, this is what happened to Brock after the Pokemon cartoons. They put all the pokemon to sleep and Misty is off pursuing a hollywood career. Ash is currently filming a wildlife series, but it hung up on legal entanglements from animal rights groups cause he keeps trying to catch the animals from the wild and stuff them into little toy balls. Brock drifted aimlessly, using his pay and popularity from the show to throw wild, hedonistic parties until his monies ran out. After a time of self loathing in which he gained alot of wieght and lost his tan, he finally got back on his feet and landed this gig on “Shortpacked!”
He’s trying to help Malaya to not follow in his footsteps. The video game he is currently playing is pokemon stadium
Arnold: the Mike of the Asian community.
And if we can extend that allegory, does that make Ken the Ethan? And what role would Malaya play? Obviously Background Guy is important, too.
Background Guy represents the mum who works register.
Gender recognition = fail. That’s a female.
Background girl is drinking the last of the booze leftover from Brock/Arnold’s last party! (see above comments
)
Wait a second, did Ken really just get his own strip!?! Is this a joke? What kind of fast one are you pulling here Willis?
I thought it might be a crossover with some other webcomic, for a moment.
I like her so far too! & also like this little window into Ken’s world.
Also she looks a lot like like my friend Sarah who is Filipino! Is she perhaps Filipino?
She is absolutely Filipino.
David Willis: One of the few cartoonists who can, with comparatively minimalist art (i.e. a “cartoon” style that doesn’t try to be ultra-realistic), draw different asian ethnicities in a way that is recognizable.
Dude, you are so awesome.
What he said, Mr. Willis. *applauds*
Excited to see how this story enfolds
Filipino with freckles! Cute!
I for one am crazy about that nose. Unbelievably adorable
I absolutely love it when cartoonists manage to work in a nose like that.
Ang galing ni David!! May cast na siyang Pinoy!!
David, if you want us to teach you how Pinoys swear, just give us a mail.
I’d like to know how Pinoys curse, too! All I know is the word “bakla”, but the guy who taught me that is Visayan (from Santa Barbara, Panay – near Iloilo), and does not actually speak Tagalog. He IS bakla, but not a ladyboy!
Oh wow, cool! I completely agree with the guy who said you can somehow have such a sharp & simple style yet convey things so clearly. Hooray for you! My friend Sarah has freckles too!
I am super excited to get to know this new person!
First panel I thought she’d be Malaysian or Thai then I saw the name in the second panel.
Malaya = Freedom :3
This is soo cool.
Wait. Half-cool for the fact, that this strip makes her sound like a freeloader who does nothing but play with her celphone (or fad gadget of that era), and decry nerds and geeks (while being in denial themselves).
Heh. She sounds like every other girl I grew up with. I guess Willis is being accurate? XD
A Filipina! I don’t really geek out about race in comics, but this is pretty cool.
Ken…has a life?
Ken…knows people?
Worldview…shattered!
I knew he would have a life, I just didn’t expect to see it is all.
Also Malaya needs to be hired… for DRAMA’s sake.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooo!
whimper
drama pooee
Your avatar makes your comment hilarious for me, I cannot lie.
Who’s Ken?
Wasn’t he the champ on Jeopardy that got beaten by that computer?
And then his girlfriend Barbie dumped him for a dude in the military.
So… is she working at the freaking toy store?
No, she’s working at the fucking toy store.
Nah, she’s gonna work at the Fucking Toy Store. That one caters to a slightly more adult audience.
“Where’s the fucking toy store?”
“Right down the street, next to the regular toy store.”
“Thank you, Arnold.”
that reminds me of how, near my old college, there was a toy store and a “toy” store in the same shopping center.
The Christmas rush must have been magical.
That’s one word for it.
I’ve seen several adult toy stores with pot-smoking supplies as well. One friend summed it up perfectly when he called one of those places “Bongs & Dongs”!
I’m in love.
I’m going to marry her. Right now.
And here I was assuming she was going to be Malaya the asian from Malaysia ! Shows what I know XD
I now harbor perverse sexual lust for Malaya.
Ken’s days are now numbered. Mark my words.
Someone has been watching a little too much Hawaii Five-O (new season).
Eh? What do you mean?
I’m guessing that refers to the presence of a Filipino cast member. Which is silly, but that’s the only similarity I see.
Late reply. Because of the large Asian cast (more realistically portraying hawaii) and Malaya reminds me of Grace Park. If anything I have been watching that show too much X_x
There is NEVER too much of the new Hawaii Five-0. By the way, the last character is a zero in the new series, but the letter “O” in the old series.
A pinoy with a British colony’s name?
I could hear the tagalog accent when I read the comic for the first time (regardless if she’s meant to have it or not). Well done!
Maybe she’s gonna say, “Ay! Chorva pala si kuya!” when she sees Ethan on the Toy Store.
what have ya got against neckbeards?
New people?! Hold me, I’m scared.
Am I the only one who’s not immediately captivated by her royal bitchiness?
I’m not. I’m much more fascinated by Arnold.
And that random chick in the background.
I’m more or less with you. I don’t mislike her entirely, but, I don’t get the claims of PSL and treating her like she’s the greatest character Willis has ever created.
I don’t have PSL, but in one strip I’m aleady interested in her.
She looks like she’s going to be interesting.
She has mouse-like physical characteristics, is relatively short, has a somewhat vulnerable or at least introverted posture, and has established a suprising amount of personality for a single appearance with half a conversation, especially compared to kenny boy.
Basically she shows promise, seems physically attractive in a way that this community has been shown to enjoy, and is entirely new. The fact that she already has a tag indicating that Dave likely does have plans for her doesn’t hurt any of this at all either. People are excited. It’s only natural. The degree to which the cause and effect here is formulaic is almost mathematical. Shouldn’t be too surprising really.
I’m not really seeing “mouse-like appearance” at all but eh, each to their own. I think it’s kind of hard to have any other posture when sitting on the couch and texting, really.
And as of her introductory comic, what’s been introduced is that she’s 1) judgmental 2) lazy 3) unmotivated. Yeah.
So far what we’ve seen of her isn’t very “likable,” but hey, she could provide some interesting stuff to the strip.
OMG! New Chars. I already love them.
That looks disturbingly like my buddies’ college apartment. GET OUT OF MY MIND WILLIS!
Speaking as a guy that just got hired to hold up a sign for five hours a day… Malaya is going to fit right in.
I’m confused. Who the hell is Ken? Is he a new guy? And how does he already know Malaya and Arnold?
Ken has been a coworker of Ethan and the gang for about six months now. His insignificance in the plot has been a running gag, and truly we haven’t seen much of him… at all.
I get the impression he knows Malaya and Arnold as roommates from several points in today’s conversation (“Just got home” “We can’t pay rent with pissy looks”). They’re entirely new characters introduced in this update, so there’s no information on them outside of what’s on the page you just read.
Hear that whooshing sound? That’s the joke going over your head.
The fact that he acted like the two characters introduced in this strip were more familiar than Ken should have been a tip-off.
My God, I can’t believe I missed that. Lol. Not a shining moment for me.
What’s with the uppity bitch? How dare she not submit to Teh Menz!
She needs to die already.
;þ
Jebus. I didn’ actually expect anyone to whine about her so soon. Takes the fun out of trying the ol’ snarky parody bit.
Sheesh – she’s existed for all of six panels and people already have her down as “unlikeable”. I honestly don’t get how artists put up with their audience at times.
Beer I imagine.
Lots and lots of beer.
So is this like some sort of means to detract all the recent anti-Robin and anti-Amber sentiments from some of the readers by introducing a character who’s not only a bitch, but an unlikable one at that?
_Is_ she a bitch, though, or simply someone who hates working retail? When I was out of work, I did everything possible to avoid having to take a retail job (and was able to avoid it). I’m gonna wait until we see more before calling her an unlikable bitch.
Exactly. Not wanting to work retail is only a sign that you are SANE.
Neckbeard comment implies that it’s a social status thing for her. It’s probably not retail in general, but nerd-centric locations like comic book stores, hobby outlets, videogame boutiques, anime emporiums etc etc.
The fact that arnold within this strip convinces her to start looking for work after six months of unemployment would also indicate that she’s opposed to employment in general.
I WISH I could get a job at retail. Actually, I wish I could get a job that wouldn’t involve telemarketing or going door to door trying to sell internet services or whatever shit people will never buy. For a 485€ pay.
That is why I feel like punching this character in the face.
I’m thinking she’s just a bitch. She’s not only talking shit about working at a toy store, but she’s also being extremely RUDE to Ken, who was nice enough to tell her about the job opening and bring her an application. If she doesn’t want to work at a toy store, she could have at least said “thanks, but I’d rather not” Instead she drops the “F” Bomb several times and sneers sarcastically at Ken and Arnold.
That, my fellow reader, is a bitch.
If you need a job to pay the rent and, you know, not have other people carry your share not taking a job because you don’t particularly like the area it’s in (when, shit, there is a lot worse than retail) then that’s dicky. Not really bitchy, though.
But if you’re rude to the person who is nice enough to tell you “I know where you can get a job” and you act rude and offensive, that’s not being a dick, it’s being a bitch and a dick.
Perhaps she’ll be Robin’s new best friend?
While I have known several folks like this (“you WILL let me mooch”) most of them (physically) attractive girls, I can’t imagine setting myself up to work with one.
Maybe I would’ve in high school…
BTW:
RIP TroubleTown, you will be missed.
Go to love Arnold
This may be incredibly shallow, but Malaya gets the lesbian stamp of approval from me.
Also echoing the love for how you’re able to portray her ethnicity clearly and effectively. It really is a rare thing to find among cartoonists.
Mine too :3
And it’s really nice to see. So many people define Asian as “vaguely brownish skin.”
Malaya-Arnold OTP!
What up , DW?! I have been a regular reader of Something Positive and Questionable Content for a while now; your drunken buttpic tweets of Faye and Randy convinced me to give you a read. I just finished the archive and I gotta say, me likey. Lickystyle.
Ha, I’ve been a long time reader of shortpacked and was tickled to find a new Filipina character. Her name means “free” btw.
I see that she’s free in speaking her mind but does she count as a hot asian chick? Filipinos really come more from the pacific.
Filipinos can identify as Pacific Islander or Asian if we wanna. Most white people just think we’re Mexicans, anyway.
Isn’t it more down by the Bahamas?
Jus’ kidd’n
Watch as the new girl ends up not being Malaya but the girl in the background.
If Willis is reading this, could her name be “Rebecca Ground” and everybody calls her “Becka” or “Beck?” Knowing your penchant for pun-ny names, this should work…
Someone added Malaya to the TV Tropes character summaries on Shortpacked’s page. And she had a longer bio than was strictly necessary AND longer than the rest of the cast.
People, calm down. She’s appeared once. Let’s wait for her to do something before we jump on the bandwagon.
*Heh* This used to happen at Megatokyo all the time. A new girl shows up in the background of the last panel, and the forums would fill with fevered speculation even before the MT fanbase even knew if she was more than walking scenery. It’s a fine old tradition: let the SP! fanbase continue it proudly!
Wait, what new girl? Are you telling me the girl in Megatokyo with the identical facial structure, identical eye shape, identical nose and mouth shape, and with constantly changing hairstyles is actually several characters? Geeeez, now that’s a stretch to believe :3
It is pannel 4 that makes me dislike Malaya. (Not as in, I don’t find her entertaining, but in that I find her to be a bad person.) I may like her later. But, the way Arnold stressed that she has been unemployed for six months makes me think that she isn’t looking for work. I could be jumping to conclusions, especially given that the strip takes place “today” and the unemployment rate is astronomical. But, something about the way Ken and Arnold are pressuring her makes me think that she hasn’t been looking.
With that said, I’m also prepared to be pleasantly surprised as we get to know the new people. Retail isn’t exactly a desirable job, more of a “best I could get” job. And, if she is (for example) a recent graduate who is still harboring the misconception that her degree is going to get her a job in her desired field, and that her dream job is surely going to call any minute now, I’ll feel completely different about her.
Quick annecdote: one of my friend’s daughters started college in 2002 with a 10-year plan as to what she was going to study, where she was going to graduate school, and what company she was going to work for. Fast forward to today, where she is sitting at home with her degree, certain that her one, single, cold-sent resume application to that company is going to turn into a call any second now. She has gotten so neurotic, that if she forgets her cell phone at home, she fretts that they will call her and she won’t be able to answer. Reality hasn’t so much bitten her as is slowly gumming her.
I wouldn’t mind finding out that Malaya is in a similiar mind-set.
But, on the other hand, I had a roommate whose idea of applying for jobs involved sitting at the computer, uploading a resume to Monster once a week, and collecting unemployment. In the span of 18 months, he had three job interviews that friends of mine got him, only one of which he went to, and that one he went dressed in sweatpants and a pull over. When the unemployment ran out, he just stopped paying his share of the rent. After five months of that, I threatened to kick him out, hoping that would put the boot up his butt to actually look for work. And, when he didn’t look, I felt obliged to follow through even though I didn’t want to.
From Ken and Arnold’s comments, and Malaya’s attitude, I suspect she is more like my former roommate and less like my friend’s daughter. Either would be entertaining, though. And, I’m looking forward to learning more about all of them.
Theno
Speaking from personal experience, having no success at getting a job, while still having a reasonably comfortable living situation, tends to leach the drive to find a job out of you.
Eh, I haven’t been fully employed in some time now and even I can get temp work to help make ends meet. The part I miss most is benefits since I’m never working long enough to afford it through my agency.
Ken is being surprisingly patient with Malaya. Arnold’s attitude is completely understandable given six months mooching, and he’s still being polite about it instead of swearing at her in turn.
I wish neckbeards were stylish. Then I might be popular.
Mike swiffed your mom for a nickel. That is all.
I already like Arnold.
How on EARTH do people have opinions about Malaya yet? All we know is that she’s unemployed and doesn’t want to work in a toy store. Which frankly, I sympathize with. I would rather panhandle than be behind the counter at a Toys ‘R Us in December.
Besides, c’mon, common sense should make it clear that she’s going to apply for the job (the strip is about employees at a toy store, not friends of the minor characters, and the name of the storyline is “The New Girl”) so harping on her non-job-seeking qualities seems to be missing the point.
SERIOUSLY. She has five lines, but people can totally figure out all of her motivations and personality quirks? IDK, I sometimes like to wait and see what happens in a comic. I trust Willis.
DAMN YOU WILLIS MALAYA IS THE WORST CHARACTER EVER I DEMAND YOU KILL HER OFF IMMEDIATELY.
SINCERELY, YOUR ENTIRE FANBASE.
That joke wasn’t funny the first time.
instant new favorite character.
I am harboring near-PSL for the freckled redhead in the background. More info is needed before PSL threshold levels are crossed or not.
FFFF. i needed to send an email to mr. willis. but i can’t find an address. nor do i want to even try the tweeter thing.
Just read your QC guest comic.
BUUUUUUTTTTTTSSSSSS!!!
I like how the lungs subtly changed into a sexy, panty-clad tuchus! Schway touch, D.W.
I wasn’t expecting this… and I think I like it!
Somewhere, there is a really happy version of Malaya (from malaise?) who doesn’t want to work at McAwesome’s….
That girl working at McAwesomes would be named “Mahigpit”.
It means strict since Malaya means free.
Shortpacked? in MY QC?
haha, the two comics i look forward to the most every day come together!
Oh, I think this new chick and MIKE will get along FAMOUSLY!…..I can’t wait to see them play off each others Hatred of everything, meh He’ll probably NAIL ‘ER…… and as to her looks I think she looks a little more like ROBIN and her SISTER. Its the hair.
woooooo pinay! mabuhay!
Wow, Rule 34 is quick
There’s porn of Mayala? Share it with the class.
You know, for science purposes.
Because the best way to prove that we’ve accepted a new independent female character is to draw her in horrifically degrading bondage porn!
Does the Japanese occupation of Malaya during WW2 count as bondage porn? …They make good stuff.
I propose a special corollary to Rule 34:
If it exists, there will be porn of it. If it is a strong, independent female, porn will consist of:
-Extremely obese versions of her
-Artwork in which she is an ocelot
-Really disturbing bondage rape-porn (aka the “Minnie Mouse! NOOOOOOO!” corollary)
I didn’t bother reading all the comments, but isn’t that one of the girls that came out of Jacobs apartment?
Web comic guest who ACTUALLY USED A PROPER LINK TO THE COMIC RATHER THAN JUST THE SITE IN GENERAL?
Madness.
YAY MALAYA
And booo, from now on tons of pointless Malaya-hate in the comments
The Nightmare Begins