Scary Go Round

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Scary Go Round
Tim and Ryan decide the best plan of attack in hopes of ridding their town of a brain-eating zombie-clone.
Author(s)	John Allison
Website	http://www.scarygoround.com/ RSS web feed
Current status / schedule	Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
Launch date	2002-06-04[1]
Genre(s)	Paranormal, Comedy
Preceded by	Bobbins 1998-09-21 to 2002-06-03

Scary Go Round is a webcomic set in the fictional West Yorkshire^[2] town of Tackleford, England, and written by John Allison. Scary Go Round was named one of the best webcomics of 2004 by The Webcomics Examiner. The Sunday Times describes it as "postmodern Brit horror" that is "subtle and stylishly drawn, with a bold cartoon edge".^[3] The Morning Star has called it "brilliant, bonkers" and "the best British strip that I've yet found".^[4] Scary Go Round won the Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards in 2003 for Outstanding Original Digital Art, in 2005 and in 2007 for Outstanding Comic.

Scary Go Round started on June 4, 2002 as part of Modern Tales, roughly following on from Allison's previous comic, Bobbins. It features bizarre happenings, strange creatures, parallel universes, zombies, time travel, reincarnation, and random spots of tea. Initially set as the lives of the barmaids Tessa and Rachel, it has since come to focus on another set of characters entirely. Amy Chilton, one of the core characters to succeed Tessa and Rachel, has successfully made the transition from the author's 17-year-old scribblings, through the Bobbins era, and into Scary Go Round, all without aging a day. Shelley Winters, another of the characters who made the transition from Bobbins, also features heavily throughout the webcomic.

Contents 1 History 2 Style and influences 3 Characters 3.1 Major characters 3.2 Recurring characters 3.3 Abandoned major characters 4 Notable Chapters 5 Collected editions 6 Spin Off Publications 7 References 8 Footnotes 9 External links

[edit] History

John Allison started hand drawing and scanning the original Bobbins webcomic in 1998-09-21 up until mid 2000 when he changed to computer drawing with Adobe Illustrator.^[5][6] Stephen Gerding described Bobbins as "kind of like "Friends", or "Coupling" with an office atmosphere, and John noted his later episodes got very bizarre and this, beginning in 2002, led to the supernatural tone of Scary Go Round.^[5]

[edit] Style and influences

Though Scary Go Round does feature ongoing character arcs, and initially featured a lot of light horror content — influenced by print comic Scream!, J. Otto Seibold, Pete Fowler, Chris Sale, James Kochalka and Shag^[5] - it is primarily a comedy; however, it is not a joke comic of the classic setup-punchline format. Its quirky sense of humor manifests primarily in the characters' distinctive dialogue.^[5]

From its inception in 2002 until August 2005, Scary Go Round was drawn in Adobe Illustrator. Notable shifts in art style during this period include:

• November 24, 2003: Characters' faces are outlined in a slightly darker flesh tone.
• January 4, 2004: Characters' heads are disproportionately large for their bodies.
• January 25, 2004: After three weeks, the "big heads" era ends.
• April 11, 2005: Allison briefly switches to hard-drawn art, before replacing the hand-drawn strips with copies rendered in Illustrator. Characters are given new, distinctive faces: for example, Shelley's face becomes more square, Ryan develops large round eyes, and The Boy is given a straighter nose.

On August 28, 2005, Allison switched to hand-drawn art. This period lasted until the return of Illustrator on November 17, 2005. The characters' Illustrator-drawn faces were quite different from the August versions, having become harder-edged and less attractive due a professed lack of time.^[7]

Hand-drawn art returned permanently on April 17, 2006. Notable shifts in art style during the contemporary hand-drawn period include:

• November 5, 2007: Allison switches to a larger page size, making the inks much thinner in the final scans. Female characters are given lips.
• December 3, 2007: After four weeks, the "lips" era ends.
• January 1, 2008: Allison begins drawing the strip using art software Manga Studio [1].

Two gradual developments of note have occurred over the course of the current period: characters' faces became rounder and jowlier beginning in September 2006, and most of them lost the bridges of their noses over the course of 2007.

[edit] Characters

Scary Go Round focuses on two overlapping but nevertheless distinct casts of characters: a set of bohemian twentysomethings and a group of uniform-wearing students at a private high school.

[edit] Major characters

(adults)

• Shelley Winters: Daft and whimsical, Shelley is the unofficial protagonist of Scary Go Round. Over the course of the strip she has held many jobs, ranging from mayor's assistant to newspaper reporter; she is currently a waitress.
• Amy Chilton: Tattooed, pink-haired friend of Shelley. Amy began the strip as a spoiled art student but has since become the most level-headed and successful of the main adult characters.
• Ryan Beckwith: Aimless, good-natured friend of Amy and Shelley, given to buffoonish musings.

(teenagers)

• Eustace Boyce, aka "The Boy": Nebbishy former assistant to one-time major character Tim Jones, The Boy and his girlfriend Dark Esther (see below) serve as protagonists of the story arcs that focus on the teenage cast.
• Esther de Groot: Adolescent goth. Lost her virginity to The Boy in a caravan in Wales.

[edit] Recurring characters

(adults)

• Desmond Fish-Man: This scaly green mer-man is Ryan's roommate. He is cowardly and has the temperament of a toddler.
• Fallon Young: Once Ryan's girlfriend and a close friend of Shelley, her former career as a professional assassin and her accompanying violent streak made her persona non grata among the main cast. However, she has resurfaced as a co-worker of Shelley's. She also appears in the Bobbins comic strip.
• Hugo Rodriguez: Jive-talking Ecuadorean entrepreneur. Current employer of Shelley and Fallon.

(animals)

• Comrade Bat: Ryan's second pet bat.

(teenagers)

• Paul Milford: Oafish friend of The Boy.
• Sarah Grote: Best friend and fellow goth of Dark Esther.
• Carrot Scruggs: Backward youth with a pyramid-shaped orange Afro.

[edit] Abandoned major characters

(adults)

• Tim Jones: This suave genius inventor was for many years the anchor of the cast: older brother figure to Shelley and Ryan, crush object of Amy, mentor to The Boy, and mayor of the town. He was exiled to Wales in 2006 and has not returned. Loosely based on a Bobbins character of the same name.
• Riley Beckwith: Ryan's sister and Tim's wife, Riley's low opinion of the main cast led her to concoct a successful scheme to remove herself and Tim from the other characters' orbit.
• Tessa and Rachel: These two barmaids were the original protagonists of Scary Go Round, but as the current cast came to dominate the proceedings, they first became villains and then were dispensed with (in Rachel's case, via immolation).

(animals)

• Friend Bat: Ryan's first pet bat (deceased).

(teenagers)

• Erin Winters: Shelley's intelligent, sensible, serious sister. Erin was put under a spell by villain Bob Crowley that led her to follow him into a bleak hell dimension from which the creator of Scary Go Round asserts she will not return [2].

[edit] Notable Chapters

Looks, Brains and Everything

While trying to investigate a murder, Shelley, the protagonist, becomes murdered herself. Later, after becoming raised from the dead as a zombie, the chapter follows her being undead, with a bit of brain-eating.

Romania

Tim and Fallon go to Romania to stop the nefarious doings of the evil Dr. Petrescu. Amy's secret attraction for Tim is discovered.

Ballad of the Man

Ryan finally meets his lady, Natalie. However, his elderly landlady and her associates do not think much of her, believing that she is a succubus, and arrange to have her killed in an explosion.

Bad Religion

Fallon must save a depressed Ryan from being brainwashed and sold into white slavery by a cult with the help of Hugo; then survive an encounter with a Devil Bear formerly owned by Jimi Hendrix on the Isle of Wight.

Count My Toes

Rachel convinces a local gang that a woman they are looking for has dyed her hair orange and now looks exactly like Shelley, leading to the latter's tragic (and gruesome) death. While waiting in line to get into Heaven, Shelley meets the recently deceased Natalie, who shows her the ropes in purgatory.

Time Teapot

Shelley and Amy travel to 1840 via the titular teapot, an invention of Tim's which they have stolen. Wacky Victorian hijinks ensue.

The Child

The mysterious Child's declaration that "Things are going to change!" leads to many changes around Tackleford, among them the comic's shift of focus to the local high school, where many stories in 2005 and 2006 have been set, and a few small changes in drawing style.

The Election

Tim runs for mayor of Tackleford.

Abductions

Shelley is kidnapped by the League of Enemies, who try to undermine Tim's administration by cloning a zombie version of Shelley and setting her loose in Tackleford.

Schoolin'

A plot on the part of Tackleford High School's administrators to remove The Boy and Esther's class from existence in order to budget instant coffee has unforeseen consequences.

Battle of the Bands

A talent show at the local high school features many unusual musical acts.

Beyond the Veil

Ryan decides to find out how Natalie is doing in the afterlife, but is unaware of what awaits him...

Big Ideas

Tim is challenged to an Invent-Off by a local professor Dai Davies, who turns out to be backed by sinister forces.

Giant Days

Dark Esther and The Boy travel to Wales to convince Tim to return; The Boy begins a relationship with and loses his virginity to Dark Esther; Shelley attempts revenge against Prof. Davies; Erin accidentally drinks the Professor's "get-massive" potion.

Aw Hell

Fallon finally escapes from the Prisoner-style village she has been trapped in, and enlists Shelley and Amy to locate the missing Ryan. Rachel and Tessa return.

Super Crisis Quests

The Devil recruits Bob Crowley to help unleash a demonic army on the world. Shelley organizes the "Super Best Friends Society" and consults the duplicitous (and foul-smelling) Mother Shipton to prevent the end of the world. This chapter effectively writes Erin Winters out of the comic.

[edit] Collected editions

• Looks Brains and Everything — The first Scary Go Round collection - Comics from August 27th 2002 to February 28th 2003
• Blame The Sky — The second Scary Go Round collection - Comics from March 4th 2003 to March 27th 2004
• Skellington — The 3rd Scary Go Round collection - Comics from May 9th 2004 to March 11 2005
• The Retribution Index — The 4th Scary Go Round collection - Comics from March 14th 2005 to February 17th 2006
• Great Aches — The 5th Scary Go Round collection - Comics from February 27th 2006 to December 22nd 2006
• Ahoy Hoy! - The 6th Scary Go Round collection - Comics from January 1st 2007 to November 11th 2007
• Peloton - The 7th Scary Go Round collection - Comics from November 5th 2007 to September 5 2008

[edit] Spin Off Publications

• Girl Spy
• Scareodeleria 1
• Heavy Metal Hearts + Flowers: A Scary Go Round Story. Keenspot
• Ghosts

[edit] References

• Tama Leaver (2005-07-27). "Webcomics: Interviews with John Allison & Jeph Jacques". Ponderance. http://ponderance.blogspot.com/2005/07/webcomics-interviews-with-john-allison.html. Retrieved on 2007-10-25. 
• Michael Whitney (2004-08-09). "Laboratory and Obsession". Webcomics Examiner. http://webcomicsreview.com/examiner/issue040809/scarygoround.html. Retrieved on 2007-10-25. 
• "JOHN ALLISON and his Scary-Go-Round". thunderchunky.co.uk. 2003 or later. http://www.thunderchunky.co.uk/articles/john-allison-and-his-scary-go-round. Retrieved on 2007-10-25. 
• Brian Warmoth (2006-12-22). "A RIDE ON THE ‘SCARY GO ROUND’ / Wizard Universe talks to webcomic creator John Allison". http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazine/wizard/002913299.cfm. Retrieved on 2007-10-25. 

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Scary Go Round

• Official website
• Scary Go Round updates
• Dumbrella
• Bobbins archives and cast list on keenspot
• Scary Go Round wiki on comixpedia
• Bobbins wiki on comixpedia
• last.fm group

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