the m0vie blog

Straight Face Comics is is a relatively new web-based comic series that’s been running since about April this year. I had the chance to peruse their archives and I’m quite impressed to be honest. There are three strips a week, so that’s a lot of work and a lot of gags to produce on a weekly basis – I don’t know how these guys do it. The artwork is very well put together (I took the liberty of borrowing some screenshots – click them to be taken to the relevant strip on their pages) and shows a… unique sense of humour.

© 2009 Matt Barak and Donald Poquiz

The strip features quite a few pop culture references, running the gamut from relatively widely known – Cthulthu is a running joke – to more obscure – one strip pays homage to Betty White’s role in the terrible Lake Placid – to just plain niche – glad to know I’m not the only one looking forward to Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus in a “it looks so terrible” sort-of-way. It also features a fairly warped sense of humour – I’m fairly sure their series of skits on David Carradine cross a line of some sort -but it manages to stay on the right side (while teetering over the edge) for most of the time. Plus, most of their targets are fairly deserving – I think this one nails most of my problems with reality television. All in all, a great pop culture mish-mash being served up.

Each post comes with a handy blog that has developed abit since the comic launched, with the author giving air to various thoughts that are sometimes bizarre, sometimes insightful and sometimes just random, managing to be occasionally crude and also funny at the same time. It’s an entertaining read and worth ten minutes of your day (if even, three times a week). There’s a lot work that goes into the comic. I’ll concede that it doesn’t always hit (though the only misfire I can find is the David Carradine series, and that may be down to my prude-ishness), but it hits far more often than it misses. I’m sure you’ll find something to bring a wry smirk to your face. For now, I’ll leave you with the lads on the magic of Jean Claude Van Damme:

© 2009 Matt Barak and Donald Poquiz

 The site can be found here.

I’m half-dreading, half-anticipating their inevitable Michael Jackson strip…

Filed under: Comics | Tagged: non-review review, review, straight face comics, web comic, web comics |