Least I Could Do

Least I Could Do
The cast of LICD as of 07/31/2007. The cast of LICD as of 07/31/2007.
Author(s)	Ryan Sohmer and Lar de Souza
Website	http://www.leasticoulddo.com
Current status/schedule	Monday through Sunday
Launch date	February 10, 2003 [1]
Publisher(s)	Blind Ferret Entertainment
Genre(s)	Comedy/Adult/Slice-of-life

Least I Could Do (LICD) is a humor webcomic by Ryan Sohmer and Lar deSouza (also the creators of the fantasy webcomic Looking for Group), which debuted on February 10, 2003. Although Lar deSouza is the current artist, the comic was previously drawn by Chad WM. Porter, for two years, and before that, Trevor Adams. The primary theme of the strip is sexuality, especially the promiscuity of the primary character, Rayne Summers.

The strip updates every day, with Sunday having a Least I Could Do: Beginnings strip. The Beginnings storylines are unrelated to the rest of the strip, instead following Rayne at age 8. Stories tend to last for only a few strips, but some have gone several weeks. The strip has done fairly long parodies of characters, such as those from The Lord of the Rings, X-Men, G.I. Joe, and Justice League (with Rayne respectively as Aragorn, Wolverine, Flint, and Batman) each taking place where Rayne is either struck unconscious, falls asleep or blacks out.

History

In late 2004, I Have My Moments, a full color book featuring the first year of LICD with Chad Porter as the artist, was published. The original artist for the strip was Trevor Adams, who drew the strip from its debut until July 18, 2003, later moving on to create his own comic Gemini Paradox. Chad took over on July 28 of that year.

In early 2005, the strip underwent a major change when Rayne's friend Noel arrived. Noel was often given roles that previously would have gone to the character John Gold, whose frequency in the strip was reduced. Rayne soon became a business executive on falsified credentials, with the intent of sleeping with the CEO of IDS Enterprises, Marcy McKean. (Ironically, one of Rayne's biggest breaks has also been one of his biggest failures, as he has, to date, never actually had sex with Marcy). Least I Could Do "3.0" launched on August 15, 2005 with the departure of Chad as the artist. Lar deSouza, a long time friend of Ryan Sohmer, and his artistic partner on the daily comic In Other News, took over the reins as the artist for Least I Could Do, and has stayed there up to present day. The comic and website have been undergoing some major changes as a result.

December 2005 marked the publication of My Will Be Done, the complete 2nd year collection featuring Chad Porter's final strips for the comic. It also included a mini-comic drawn by Lar, depicting the origins of Bra-Man. In July 2006 the first Bra-Man comic was released.

In November 2006, Because I Can, the 3rd year collection, and the first to feature current artist Lar deSouza was published.

In the July 9th, 2007 strip, the cast opened a "letter" from the writer and artist which stated that from that moment on, they would age normally rather than remain a perpetual age 24 or so. Since then, the strip's characters have enacted major life changes: notably, Noel has moved in with his girlfriend (And since married her), and Rayne, in a plot arc beginning in September, experimented with monogamy.

Though the primary character is Rayne, there are a large number of supporting characters, and the strip will sometimes go for up to a week without a strip featuring Rayne. These usually involve large story arcs involving the other characters, though Sohmer still specializes in the one strip joke.

On November 12th 2007 strip the author's cat, Baby Sohmer, died of natural causes (but the aforementioned letter stated that all pets will be granted immortality in the strip.)

In 2008 webcomic.com was introduced by the same group.

Main characters

Rayne

Rayne Summers is the protagonist of the "Least I Could Do" universe, and based on the author of the comic strip, Ryan Sohmer. He is a shallow, childish, and sexually driven twenty four year old (now twenty seven) with an underdeveloped emotional intelligence as well as a severe superiority complex. He is prone to elaborate schemes and pranks, often involving his closest friends, and has a boundless energy level enhanced by his passion for Red Bull and Cadbury creme eggs. He also seems to have a passion for Bailey's Irish Cream (stating "It's alcoholic chocolate milk. I see no issue.") and Orange Julius'. His behavior stems from an overwhelming lust for life and a desire to enjoy himself every day. Despite his overwhelming ego and sex drive, Rayne is fiercely loyal to his friends (though he messes with them constantly). He demonstrated extreme nobility at times, such as when he defended his gay proctologist from a homophobic woman, or when he surprised a lonely Mick by buying him a pet dog. On that subject, Rayne seems to love animals, particularly cats, as he is seen in numerous strips with his pet cat Baby lying on his chest or being otherwise affectionate. Another quirk of Rayne's is that he appears to have a nut allergy, and as a result, reacts in terror whenever he sees one. Mick has used this to force the truth out of Rayne on at least one occasion. It has also been revealed that Rayne is lactose intolerant. Rayne claims that there are only three things he cannot do, two of which he has revealed: musical theatre and skipping rope..It has been revealed in a strip of LICD: Beginnings that Rayne had karate lessons when he was younger (explaining why he was able to beat Tong Mo in the Dojo Challenge storyline without apparent martial training, apart from Cyndi's stating that doing so would increase his chances of sleeping with her).

Rayne is an ardent fan of science fiction and fantasy books and movies. His passion for Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time fantasy book series, George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy book series and the Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings movies having been specifically noted in several strips. In particular, Rayne is obsessed with the character of Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings, and has had several elaborate fantasies of being the character while unconscious and once even suggested that given the chance, he would have sex with the character. He has also been willing to dress in costumes when attending numerous premieres for movies such as Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings and Batman films. He also seems to like video games, notably the Legend of Zelda series, as he once dressed as Link while playing Twilight Princess and has made several references to Rupees, including breaking vases in his home looking for them and attempting to buy an engagement ring with them.

Previously, he was a newspaper columnist, but after hearing about Marcy McKean, the attractive billionaire CEO of IDS Enterprises, he became determined to have sex with her. With a little help from his friend Mick, Rayne was able to falsify his resume and landed a high-paying job as an executive of IDS Enterprises. Despite his questionable motives in joining the company and seeming lack of qualifications, it is evident that Rayne's employment has had a positive effect on IDS, as Marcy states that Rayne is the reason the company has been generating record profits. Rayne has been involved in several notable incidents while at IDS, which range from intervening to stop a workers strike to traveling to a Porn company in LA to assist them with their HD cameras (and, unofficially, their production values).

A 2007 storyline revealed that Rayne began his promiscuous adventures after a girl left him heartbroken at the age of sixteen. During the course of a conversation with Issa, Rayne refused to continue pining for the girl who had broken his heart after he had nurtured a crush on her during the past two years, and instead decided on a different approach, embarking on the start of his many promiscuous adventures. He once revealed to Issa though, following a group discussion about love, that he was still in love with an unknown woman and would remain so forever. It's assumed that this woman is the one girl who broke his heart in high-school. In the present, Rayne realizes what effect he has had on a girl who expected more than a one-night stand from him. He experienced great guilt from this, but also realized he never promised her anything more and claims that he has never led on any of the women he hooks up with. The storyline eventually left Rayne with the realization that he is responsible for the life he leads and is happy with it despite it not being the norm. However, the future is left open, given the whole storyline was actually a hallucination resulting from a mild Red Bull-induced heart attack.

Rayne's experiment with monogamy with Seline was his first long-term relationship since Gina in the strip's second story arc. It was clear, however, that Rayne was driven to monogamy not for himself, but because both Noel and Mick were in serious relationships and he was feeling left out. Rayne quickly demonstrated his distinct lack of knowledge about the opposite sex and his somewhat insensitive side when Seline let slip that she was in love with him. After consulting various women - including Issa and Nancy- about the situation, Rayne continued his below-par streak with Seline by refusing to let her meet his parents (though a flashback suggested that for Seline's sake, this may have been a good idea) and then attempting to have sex with her while she was still asleep.

Rayne's religion isn't specified, but it's assumed he's an atheist. He has been seen going out of his way to offend every religion possible, and has said, "I wish I believed in God so I'd have someone to thank." In spite of this, he often compares himself to Jesus, and a running joke in the strip is to spoof moments from the Bible, insinuating he has at least some theological knowledge. He often uses "Jebas" as an expletive in lieu of Jesus.

Rayne has also been shown to have a conscience like John's Darth Vader, only that his is Adolf Hitler. Hitler is usually larger than Darth, and he is commonly dressed in women's clothing.

Noel

Noel is Rayne's best friend, a later addition to the strip, first appearing on January 5, 2005. Before showing up on the comic, he had been dating an overweight woman (instead of that woman's attractive friend, whom he was actually interested in) for five years, during which he had become alienated from his friends. When Noel came back, he was readily welcomed back by Issa and Rob, but Rayne was marginally harder to win over. Rayne had Noel read a verbal contract promising that if Noel were to disappear again for a woman, he would make sure that she was at least semi-attractive, and that Rayne was entitled to mock him endlessly for having gone out with a fat woman.

Noel's appearance greatly reduced John Gold's importance in the strip. Noel's first appearances, in fact, lined up with a period in author Ryan Sohmer's life where he was becoming increasingly more distant from the real-life friend that the John Gold character was based on. Sohmer says in the liner notes for the "My Will Be Done" book that he did not feel that he could continue writing the John Gold character in the same way, but the Rayne character itself needed a comedic foil. Therefore Sohmer felt it was time to introduce a new character based on another one of his real-life friends, and the character of Noel was created.

In his early appearances in the strip, Noel usually performed duties as Rayne's wingman, and although he does not always appear to approve of Rayne's promiscuity and attitudes, he is markedly less critical of it than John. Many of the comic’s strips feature Rayne and Noel walking through a park, where the two characters will discuss topics such as Rayne's recent escapades, current politics, or modern culture. Noel will usually end the strip with a sly one-liner that illustrates the flaws in Rayne's logic.

Noel never seems to grow frustrated with Rayne, despite Rayne's usual self-centered and childish approach to the world around him (as well as his tendency to insult Noel whenever he is unhappy with events unrelated to Noel). Noel instead chooses to shake his head in amusement and wait to see what happens next. There has been one notable exception to this: after Rayne attempted to have sex with his girlfriend Seline while she was asleep, and complained to Noel about her turning him down and only having sex twice a day, a frustrated Noel decided to attempt to pound some sense in Rayne, and wound up beating him severely. An apparent downside to Noel's easygoing nature, however, is that he often winds up in the thick of things alongside Rayne, horribly out of his depth in situations that occur against his better judgment.

Noel's nights out with Rayne slowed when he met a woman called Kate during a venture into Speed-Dating. They hit it off, then began dating, and eventually moved in together. Soon after, Noel explained to Rayne he was planning on asking his current girlfriend Kate to marry him, Rayne slapped him in disgust (showing his view towards monogamy). Noel promptly beat the living hell out of him, with Rayne returning the favor. They both wound up arrested, and, having got it out of their systems, Rayne congratulated him while they were both cuffed in the back of the police car and promised to help him prepare to propose. Subsequent strips showed Noel discussing ideas of proposing with Rayne, asking Kate's Father's permission for her hand, and ring shopping. After much preparation, Noel proposed to Kate with an elaborate set-up that involved Rayne posing as a cab driver. She accepted. Shortly before the engagement was confirmed, Rayne began bullying his friends into paying for a Caribbean cruise. It was recently revealed that this was not only intended as another cast vacation (with Mick and Noel's girlfriends attending), but also as the setting for Noel and Kate's wedding.

Issa

Melissa "Issa" Alie is one of Rayne's few female platonic friends. An extremely gorgeous redhead with a voluptuous figure and natural yellow eyes, Rayne continually makes sexual advances on her which she continually rejects. Despite this, it sometimes seems as though she has a slight subconscious crush on him. When she introduced her friends to her farmer-boyfriend, Huck, his resemblance to Rayne was noted by the crew. John and Mick went so far as to suggest that she was dating him because he looked like Rayne, suggesting a subconscious interest in him. However, the character of Huck has not appeared since that arc so the status of the relationship is unknown. Despite her attractiveness and continual disgust at some of their antics, Issa still manages to play the voice of reason and fits in with Rayne and the rest of the boys. However, she is not above manipulating her male friends, such as offering to try on underwear at Victoria's Secret for Rayne, in exchange for him accompanying her to the mall.

Issa also voiced an attraction to Rayne's brother Eric when Eric came to visit, so much so that she was willing to be part of a bet between Rayne and Eric, However, Issa's attraction to Eric could more easily be explained because Eric is a doctor (and Issa has been trying to find a rich boyfriend since the early days of the strip). Issa works as a clerk at a gas station, Esco. When Chad was drawing the strip, filler strips frequently involved her in revealing clothing, or jokes about readers' attraction to her.

Issa has known Rayne since at least his teenage years, offering him advice after the relationship that started his womanizing streak, showing her to be one of Rayne's oldest friends, save for John Gold; consequently, it also means that she, of all the female characters, holds the record for holding out against Rayne's advances (Eric alludes it's up to 2 decades in the July 1st 2005 strip).

It should be noted that it is Noel and Issa who usually spend the most time with Rayne. The two are always caught up in Rayne's antics, whether it is shopping for a new car or new furniture, or getting dragged on a whirlwind trip to New York City. Issa is afraid of spiders, as first shown during a storyline interruption, and later in a normal comic strip when she sees a spider on Rayne's neck, and promptly freaks out.

In a recent arc, Rayne got her a job at IDS as a replacement for a staff member on maternity leave, although it remains to be seen if this is a permanent post. It is now known that she and Michael Von Huntington are in a relationship. (#3 on the Cast Poster)

Mick

Mick Alfa is an overweight and socially awkward friend of Rayne's, whom he often uses as a wingman. Rayne often enlists Mick in elaborate (and occasionally bizarre) charades to help him get laid, such as having Mick pretend to be retarded to make himself look compassionate and dressing him up as a Nun named "Sister Likestacos" for the same reason. Rayne also makes Mick the target of frequent bestiality jokes, going so far as getting him a goat's phone number. Despite this, Mick and Rayne are good friends. Mick helped Rayne secure his job at IDS by pretending to be a NASA representative. He also seems to be fairly comfortable with his body, often making light of his weight and bad luck with women. Mick himself is a TV program director. While Mick strikes out more often than not, he has had a greater number of steady relationships than Rayne, Noel and John combined. To Rayne's great shock, he was able to hook up with a Swedish exchange student whom Rayne and John had spent two weeks chasing after, and has been dating Tamara for two years. Mick also has a dark side, though it only seems to show when he gets to enjoy Rayne injuring or otherwise making a fool of himself—such as when Rayne drank a large quantity of Red Bull, in the hopes that if one would give him wings, 12 would be like having a jet pack. He also had no qualms of shooting Rayne's unconscious body with a Nerf gun after he went crazy after trying to give up sleep. Like Rayne's love for Cadbury Cream Eggs and Red Bull, Mick has a passion for something else: potato chips. Recently, it has been revealed that Mick's father was murdered by his mother's lover (the gardener), whereupon his mother went to prison and she became a lesbian.(#7 on the Cast Poster)

John

John Gold is Rayne's childhood friend and roommate, who often acts as his foil. He continually expresses a resigned discontent with Rayne's promiscuity. John is looking for a wife, which has been shown to lead him into being somewhat needy and over-hasty in relationships. He is a grade school teacher, and has on two occasions romanced Rebecca, a recently-divorced single mother of a child in his class. Another brief relationship of John's was with a woman named Hannah, who became a major part of his life and even moved in with him. However, the relationship proceeded too quickly for Rayne's liking. Hannah, in turn, didn't care for Rayne, and when she issued an ultimatum forcing John to decide between her and Rayne, John demonstrated extreme loyalty and chose his longtime friend, a choice Rayne found disappointing as he states "Best friends come and go. But sex... SEX IS FOREVER!".

John's temptations are represented by a small Darth Vader (#23 on the Cast Poster), in a parody of the shoulder devil cliché. This Darth Vader character frequently appears, not only to tempt him, but also to voice the darker thoughts that John represses. John's Darth Vader has even had a brief relationship with Rebecca's own "shoulder devil" cliché, Jeannie.

John's friendship with Rayne has once again become a focal point of the story, as it has been introduced that Rayne does not see John as someone he can depend on. At the end of the "To Be a Hero" arc, after a near death experience while trying to save a couple from a car crash, Rayne speaks with Issa and she remarks that he is far more shaken up than his other brushes with death. Rayne goes on to say that "John wasn't there. He's never there." John had stayed in their car, didn't come out to help Rayne at all, and is only shown out of the car after the paramedics had arrived on the scene.

One notable storyline beginning on January 21st, 2008, reveals that Rayne is deeply hurt by the growing distance in their friendship, noting that he tried to include John in many of the previous storylines and sees his pranks as "the only time we've spent together in the past two years." It is revealed through flashbacks that John and Rayne first met on the first day of elementary school when Rayne (unsuccessfully) defended John from bullies. It seems that John is slowly working his way back into the group and regaining a bit of his old sense of humor. In 2008's Valentine's Date storyline John was allowed to make a retaliatory prank against Rayne using the contest. In response to Rayne changing his e-mail signature to 'Heil Hitler', John selected a lovely German woman to win a date with Rayne, and then tricked him into a Nazi uniform before Rayne, oblivious to what he was wearing, met her. Since this storyline's completion, John has once again become slightly more active in the comic although still not to the extent he was at the start of the comic.(#8 on the Cast Poster)

Books

I Have My Moments: The Complete First Year Collection Yield To Me: The Complete Fifth Year Collection	My Will Be Done: The Complete Second Year Collection I Am Not A Credible Source: The Complete Sixth Year Collection	Because I Can: The Complete Third Year Collection Least I Could Do Beginnings: Look At Me	I Love This Guy: The Complete Fourth Year Collection Least I Could Do Beginnings: Adorableness
Covers of Least I Could Do books: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 and Beginnings 1 & 2.

Jesus Made Me Do It: Least I Could Do, Volume 1	Velcro Pants Are Awesome: Least I Could Do, Volume 2
Covers of Least I Could Do books: Jesus Made Me Do It and Velcro Pants are Awesome, Vols. 1 & 2, respectively.

Least I Could Do books are published by Blind Ferret Entertainment. Five books are available currently which round up the two years that the comic was drawn by Chad and the three years of Lar's work. The second book includes a mini-comic drawn by Lar that explains the origins of Bra-Man. They have also printed the first edition of Bra-Man, a spin-off comic based on Rayne's drunken alter-ego and a book of Least I Could Do Beginnings which tells stories about Rayne's childhood along with his friends and family.

1. I Have My Moments: The Complete First Year Collection; December 2004 ISBN 0-9736946-0-2
2. My Will Be Done: The Complete Second Year Collection; December 2005 ISBN 0-9736946-1-0
3. Bra-Man #1; July 2006
4. Because I Can: The Complete Third Year Collection; December 2006 ISBN 0-9736946-2-9
5. I Love This Guy: The Complete Fourth Year Collection'; October 2007
6. Yield To Me: The Complete Fifth Year Collection; September 2008
7. Jesus Made Me Do It: Least I Could Do, Volume 1; November 2008 ISBN 978-0973694659
8. Look At Me: A Month's Worth of Sundays of Least I Could Do Beginnings; June 2009
9. Velcro Pants Are Awesome: Least I Could Do, Volume 2; June 2009 ISBN 978-0973694697
10. I Am Not A Credible Source: The Complete Sixth Year Collection; November 2009
11. Adorableness: Least I Could Do Beginnings, Vol. 2; January 2010
12. My Eyes Are Up Here: The Complete Seventh Year Collection;

Awards

• Wizbang!'s Weblog Awards:
  • 2006: Won for Best Comic Strip
• Cartoonist's Choice Awards:
  • 2007: Nominated for Outstanding Comedic Comic
• Schuster Awards:
  • 2008: Won for Outstanding Canadian Webcomics Creator/Creative Team for Least I Could Do and Looking for Group
  • 2009: Nominated for Outstanding Webcomic
• Harvey Awards:
  • 2009: Nominated for Best Cartoonist
  • 2009: Nominated for Best Online Comics Work
  • 2009: Nominated for Humor in Comics

Animated series

Work on the LICD: Animated Series has been going on for a couple of years now. After a false start with Chad, it seems to be taking off again. The LICD team, under their Blind Ferret banner, had been putting out the animated series for Ctrl+Alt+Del, but have discontinued their association with that project. They are now working cooperatively on another animated series for PvP with PvP creator, Scott Kurtz. After several successes with animation, they have released their first screen test of a Least I Could Do show. The trailer for the animated series was released in April 2006, and can be found on the website. Blind Ferret Entertainment has also released a number of short animations for the webcomic Looking For Group.

Blind Ferret Entertainment

A company started by Ryan Sohmer, the creator of Least I Could Do, and partner Randy Waxman, Blind Ferret Entertainment is an independent web, print, film, television production and marketing company that works to develop, market, distribute and represent high-quality projects that reach out to targeted audiences. The company seems to be working towards bringing webcomics more into the mainstream, and has linked itself with popular comics Ctrl+Alt+Del, VG Cats, Cyanide and Happiness, Looking For Group, and 8-Bit Theater. Blind Ferret Entertainment also helped to create Ctrl+Alt+Del: The Animated Series.

At the New England Webcomics Weekend Ryan Sohmer was asked what his least successful business venture was, he immediately answered "We produced Ctrl+Alt+Del season one. Never again. Lost HUGE amounts of money."
Work is also being done to bring Least I Could Do to television in the form of an animated series.

PvP's animated series has been added to Blind Ferret's animation work. A trailer is available on the PvP website. The first episode of the series was released February 1, 2007. Most recently, Blind Ferret Entertainment created an infomercial for Nullo, a product marketed to neutralize body odors using the cast of Least I Could Do - uploaded to YouTube.com on December 15, 2007. They have also put out short videos on YouTube of book signings and a teaser about Red Bull – referring to Ryan Sohmer's love for the drink.

Spin-offs and New Projects

Main article: Looking for Group

In July 2006, the first "Bra-Man" comic was released. The 24 page comic showcases the adventures of Bra-Man, Rayne Summers' alter-ego. Bra-Man #1 was written by Ryan Sohmer, drawn by Lar deSouza, and coloured by Marc Brunet.

Starting in 2006, Sohmer and DeSouza began writing a comic-fantasy webcomic called Looking For Group. Characters from Looking for Group have appeared in the background of a May 7th 2008 Least I could Do strip. Richard the Warlock and his rabbit also appeared during the CRISIS Arc on April 6th 2009 and incinerated a future version of Rayne. Krunch Bloodrage also appeared in the same arc, fighting Rayne's Audibot in the background of the April 10th 2009 strip.

Least I Could Do: Beginnings

On November 9 2008 it was announced that a new strip would be up on Sundays, thus having a strip every day of the week. Sohmer Said "For quite some time now, Lar and I have been toying with the idea of going to a 7 day a week schedule with LICD. While other creators seem to be cutting back on their output lately, we wanted to do more."

But not wanting to just do another normal strip, Sohmer and DeSouza decided to start up Beginnings, a Sunday only strip on the website with storylines separate to the rest of the comic based around Rayne's childhood, specifically at 8 years old. Beginnings is similar in both format and artistic style to Calvin & Hobbes, which has been occasionally referenced in LICD, including Calvin's sled (with a stuffed tiger clearly visible) running over Noel and Rayne offering Calvin money to run him over again.

External links

• [2]
• Your Webcomic Hub
• Blind Ferret Entertainment