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Sinfest
Cover of first Sinfest anthology
Cover of the first Sinfest book, collecting strips up to late 2002.
Author(s)Tatsuya Ishida
Websitehttp://www.sinfest.net/
Current status/scheduledaily
Launch dateJanuary 17, 2000
Genre(s)Humor, Satire

Sinfest is a webcomic[1] written and drawn by Japanese-American comic strip artist Tatsuya Ishida. The first strip appeared on January 17, 2000.[2] A new strip is published daily on the Sinfest website. On July 9, 2006, the Sinfest website underwent a redesign, and became self-published, no longer a member of Keenspot.

Overview

Sinfest is perhaps best summarized as Eastern art with Western writing. Ishida's drawing is clearly influenced by manga but not limited to that particular style. The strip is hand-drawn in oversized frames and then scaled down. Ishida never re-uses the same frame within the same strip, even if the only change is a speech bubble.[citation needed]

Originally, all strips were pure black and white line art, but larger Sunday strips with full color were introduced shortly after Ishida broke away from Keenspot in the summer of 2006, which also coincided with a site redesign. Starting around late February 2007 Sinfest's style changed, and it was for a time drawn with different shades of grey. This change in itself was commemorated in a strip.[3] Historically, the strip has been updated more or less every day, but the period leading up to the split saw significantly fewer comics, with two unexplained dry-spells lasting at least a month. Since the new site was introduced on July 10, 2006, there has been a new strip every day.[4]

The subject matter of Sinfest is often human nature,[5] with particular attention paid to sexuality, gender roles, and religion. Less frequently, the strip will parody popular culture or indulge in political commentary. There are some recurring types of strip, such as "You Had to Be There" (where the reader is not told what the characters are discussing), "Japanese Calligraphy" (where one of the characters transforms over four panels into a kanji ideograph, usually related to the strip in some way.), "Porn Script Readings" (where Monique and Slick read porn star dialogue in deadpan style, except for once where they used flash cards for a Silent Film reading) and "Ninja Theatre" (where the characters take on the roles of heroes and villains in a martial arts movie). Though there is little in the way of overarching story or continuity in Sinfest, the central characters do undergo some development.

In each strip, a unique epigram appears above Ishida's name, for example: "Da Bomb," "Patent Pending" and "Some Assembly Required." The new-style Sunday strips include no epigrams.

Sinfest in print

According to the "Futility Watch" that was on the website previous to the July 9, 2006 redesign, Sinfest has been rejected by newspaper comic syndicates eleven times as of January 25, 2006.

Sinfest has appeared in print in the form of anthology books, released by Ishida's own production company Museworks. So far, three books have been published, with more planned for October 2009[6]:

  • Sinfest ISBN 0-9724663-0-4 (published November 21, 2002)
  • Life is My Bitch ISBN 0-9724663-1-2 (published November, 2003)
  • Dance of the Gods ISBN 0-9724663-2-0 (published October 26, 2005)

In Norway, Sinfest has appeared in the comic magazine Nemi.[7] Unlike the web version it was colored before printing (in addition to being translated) and the epigram was cropped.

Dark Horse Comics republished in June 2009 the first volume of compiled strips as, as of February 2010, has announced it will republish the second volume.[8][9] A two page strip, without the usual epigram, entitled Sinfest: Street Poetry appeared in the May 2009 issue of Dark Horse Presents.[10]

Characters

Slick

Slick, an inept womanizer and self-proclaimed pimp, is the strip's main character. Ishida admits that Slick's appearance is based on Calvin from Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes[11]; (which was parodied in one strip where Slick and Monique dress up like Calvin and Hobbes while proclaiming originality). He has the same spiky blond hair and diminutive stature, but always wears shades which he refuses to remove, even during a tender moment with Monique. Slick is aged "between 14 and 21,"[12] but he is often seen consuming alcohol and looking at pornography, suggesting that, while he somewhat resembles a child, he is in fact a young adult.

In the first strips, he applies to the Devil to sell his soul, and his application remained pending for years (it was accepted, later rejected, and, after the Devil's return from retirement, finally processed[13]). His continued moral struggle with lust gets him repeatedly thrown into hell, but he always manages to escape in various ways, often with the help of other characters. He continues to use his overdrawn account with the devil to bargain for himself or occasionally for others. When he attempts to lift himself to a higher moral standard, he often finds himself facing temptations of wealth and sex specifically set up for him by the Devil and devil girls. Slick's current morality is debatable, as he has been seen redeeming himself, giving up, and so on, making him a more three-dimensional character than in earlier strips.

Much of the strip's early humor revolved around Slick's futile attempts to persuade Monique to have sex with him, although in recent strips he is usually shown as having genuine feelings for her. Slick has a history of making crude romantic overtures to virtually any nameless woman he encounters, usually with little result. As the strip progressed, some of these women began expressing periodic mild interest in Slick (his poetry frequently receives positive feedback, except from Monique, of course), but he has seldom followed up on such romantic opportunities. Another time, he secured a date with a woman, only to have Monique chase her off and pose like a prize fighter.

In August 2009, he recovered a computer, the "Slickbook", during a visit to Hell, originally "damned to hell" after God complied with Slick's inadvertent angry demand. Since then, the laptop has taken on an independent personality and has become like a pet to Slick. Prior to this, the laptop was shown as a simple inanimate object. Some time later, after Slick got again "damned to Hell" for having lost every expectation and will to live, the "Slickbook" followed him, this time "recovering" his master by showing him how much his friends cared from him, thus reigniting his will to live [14].

He has many alter-egos, including Wasabi the Pimp-Ninja, Slick. D. Sexington, Slick Daddy, and Uranus the Beat Poet. The strip centers on Slick, as he tends to interact with the most characters within any given timeframe. While some characters almost never interact with each other (Criminy rarely speaks with the Devil, for instance, or Monique with Ezekiel), Slick interacts with them all.

Monique

Monique is a friend and romantic interest of Slick's. She shares many of Slick's interests, such as world domination and sex, and engages in similar hobbies, like spoken word performance at the cafe, political protests for free speech and peace, and bringing demands to shout up to God on the hill. She plays with personal definition more literally than Slick; one continuing gag is her dressing up as a particular aspect of herself and then going around acting the caricature out. Her moral struggle is often depicted as the battle between anti-consumerism and cute shoes, and a borderline supernatural ability to use sexual appeal to tease men, as she describes to the devil girls, "for sheer love of the craft."

Monique is an attractive girl who has "many tramp-like qualities, but deep down inside she's still a tramp". Monique occasionally appears shallow and vain, but has a reflective and insecure side as well. This side has been developing steadily since the series' beginning, where she is initially introduced as rather extroverted and straightforward.

Over the years, Monique has cynically questioned the behaviors of men and the rest of the world, and her own contribution to it. She is single; early strips implied that she might be promiscuous in her sexual activity,[15][16] but this aspect of her character lapsed in later strips and she was more often accused of teasing men. She is very proud of her body and often shows off, posing and dressing up. She frequently admits that she loves and wants attention, and demands it. For a time, a running gag in the strip was that she seemed to be attracted to every man she saw except Slick, although run-ins with nameless lecherous men have made her suspicious of men on occasion.

Much later, the sexual angle of Monique personality was greatly downtoned, granting her a higher degree of social awareness. To reflect her changes in life Monique has become a vegan (albeit with occasional lapses [17]), and a self styled liberal, strongly advocating social justice and berating the Demon Girls for their lack of unionizing [18]

Although Slick and Monique are frequently shown getting on each others' nerves (Monique serves as a counterweight to Slick's inflated self-image) they remain friends and enjoy their banter. Many of Slick's comments and actions toward Monique are of sexual nature, but the two often depend on one another for company and amusement.

Unlike Slick, she is basically critical to the Devil and seems to have a more positive relationship to the "big hand in the sky" - though she is also fairly critical of him, and has shown outright contempt towards the Angels.

There have also been strips where it is implied that she may have some feelings for Slick as well (or at least a possessive nature towards him). One such example involved Slick having a conversation with a girl in a bar that seemed to be romantically interested in him, which prompted Monique to indignantly state that the other girl was talking to "my Slicky!".[19] Also, in one of the Sunday comics when Slick and Monique have taken to writing their own stories, in the last panel as they sit on two opposite sides of a tree, there is an engraving on the tree between them that says "S+M" surrounded by a heart that may have been made by Monique, as it seemed above Slick's reach due to his diminutive stature.[20]

Monique's alter egos include Yellow Tail the Geisha Slut Villainess and Spoken-word Star It Girl, and EMOnique. Her nicknames include 'Nique and Money, which sometimes causes some of Slick's comments to have double meanings. She once sends a gift (including the aforementioned "get out of hell free" card) to Slick under the name Monique N. Hotpantz.

Criminy

Criminy is an intelligent, bespectacled youngster who frequently acts as the strip's lone voice of reason. He is shy, innocent and polite, frequently addressing the other characters as "Ms. Monique" and "Sir." Despite his somewhat staid demeanor, Criminy is a great breakdancer and DJ,[21][22] but the other characters do not seem to be aware of this. Possibly due to his gentlemanly nature, Criminy seems to be very attractive to other women, but his unceasing innocence prevents him from getting involved with the romantic or devious intentions of his suitors. In the "Ninja Theatre" arcs, Criminy is represented as a scholar from the Chinese court.

Beginning in summer 2006, Criminy is mostly seen in a fort made entirely of books that is posted against a tree near a lake. The purpose of the fort is apparently to shield him from the evils of the world.[23] He is sometimes seen to question God in an objective researcher-like fashion. In encounters with the Devil and his minions, he displays worry or outright panic.

Recently, Criminy showed himself to be a "towering pillar of moral courage"[24] by saving Seymour from being tormented by Fuchsia, the pink-haired Devil Girl.[25] Fuchsia has since developed a crush on Criminy[26] and began to question her role as a Devil Girl. His recent efforts have been bent on taming and training an aggressive and toothy book from hell that Fuchsia gave to him as a gift.

Squigley

In direct contrast to Criminy is Slick's sidekick Squigley or "Squig," an anthropomorphic pig. Although most often in the company of Slick, he is also friends with Criminy and Monique; he is the only anthropomorphic animal in the cast, something that none of the characters seem to find odd. Crude and seemingly dumb, Squigley is a male chauvinist who belittles women shamelessly: "Naw, they're trophies, man, trophies. They're objects! Show ponies! Slabs o' meat! SEX TOYS!"[27] Like Slick, he is addicted to pornography and alcohol, and is also a heavy marijuana user. He has also eaten mushrooms which has had mental effects similar to when he smokes marijuana. A joke which is seen several times is Squigley's tendency to smoke any plant he finds using his pipe - including mistletoe, clover, and the first flower of spring.[28] Squigley's alter egos include the poet Notorious P.I.G. and Tonkatsu the Pig Ninja. He frequently puts on drag and assumes female personalities - parodying women including Monique.[29] During the series he once quit his habits[30] but returned eventually.[31] This shows he has some redeemable aspects to his personality - this is backed up by his respect for Slick.[32] However, he is mostly treated as comic relief.

God

God is typically shown as His hand (or occasionally both hands). God often uses a hand puppet to portray other characters, most often the Devil. His "Devil" puppet looks intentionally ridiculous.

God's speech is written in blackletter when he is speaking directly. When God is speaking as one of the hand puppets, normal letters are used. His manner of speaking is no different from that of any other character. His speech bubbles usually come from between two large cumulus clouds above some hills, upon which the strip's other characters usually sit or stand to talk to him.

In addition to engaging the characters in often heartfelt conversation, God frequently performs monologues or skits with puppets for the entertainment of the main characters. Although he (or rather his hand) appeared without preamble in his first appearance, God rarely appears as "Himself" (i.e. as God, not as a puppet character) unless directly addressed by another character seeking his attention, usually via question or prayer. An exception to this is the Devil, whom God will gladly heckle without direct provocation. God also responds to questions or criticisms during his puppet performances, although he rarely breaks character when doing so. Both Slick and the Dragon have played along with God's impersonations to the extent of insulting God in conversation with the puppet, to see if he will break character and protest.

With the exception of "fan boy" Seymour, none of the mortal characters seem especially impressed with the ability to regularly converse with God, nor does God seem offended at their casual form of address. In particular, Slick tends to speak to God with remarkable casualness: "Look, it's the giant hand of God. Hey, God. Wassup."[33]

In one strip placing the strip in Bizarro World, God's appearance is hinted as he stands on the ground and looks into the clouds at the Devil's hand.[34]

The Devil

Unlike God, the Devil is portrayed as a human-sized being. He has the requisite horns, pointed beard and tail. He is usually dressed in a suit, except for a sequence of strips where he "quit" and was seen at the beach wearing a Hawaiian shirt or when hunting (hunting angels, of course) he wears a hat and hunting jacket. Like God, his manner of speech is no different from anyone else's. The Devil walks the Earth like any human, conversing with people normally, usually to give (bad) advice. While said people often ask the Devil theological questions, the Devil rarely gives a straight answer. However, he is not often seen being actively evil. Instead he engages in monologues in which he expounds on all the evil deeds he has done. He also frequently has a small, home-made kiosk which says "Anything you want," in exchange for "$ Your soul." It is very similar to Lucy's from Peanuts, which is pointed out in one particular strip.[35] After the similarity is shown, the Devil makes a "The Devil is in" sign to parody it further. The devil's 'regular' customer is Slick.

God and the Devil are rivals, but in Sinfest their rivalry seems to be a vehicle for insights on religion.

Sinfest's devil makes an appearance in an installment of the webcomic Chopping Block.[36]

The Devil owns Cerberus, a three-headed dog.

Seymour

Seymour is a somewhat unflattering portrayal of Christian fundamentalists, although he is more benign than many other such portrayals in comic strips and elsewhere. He has a head resembling a smiley-face and wears a homemade halo. He is often seen praying, preaching, or sitting quietly reading his Bible. He is a constant annoyance or laughing-stock to all of the other characters, except God (though even God has made fun of him behind his back [37]), especially the Devil and the Devil's fanboy Li'l Evil. He incessantly criticizes anyone who is not as pious as he, and is never deterred when the response to his criticism and preaching is negative, as it almost always is. Even God's angels, Ezekiel and Ariel, seem to think Seymour is an embarrassment; in one strip, to excuse his behavior, they say that Seymour is still "in training".

Seymour has however, enjoyed occasional moments of respect and success; in the 2007-12-23 strip,[38] energized by a "Jesus flavored power drink," he held Monique's attention for hours by preaching on peace and love, and he later joined a peace march with Monique and other characters. Likening Christianity to the Force, he once proudly declared that "the Jesus is strong within me."[39]

In the earlier strips, Seymour bore a cross on the front of his tunic, but it was quickly dropped as Ishida apparently did not like the style.

Seymour's life is dominated by all things related to Christianity. The other characters most often regard Seymour with mild amusement so long as he does not become too pushy. In turn, he sometimes manages to interact with the others without lapsing into preaching mode.

On a more internal note, Seymour has been shown grappling with his own faith on many occasions, such as when he was tempted into wishing harm on others or felt disillusioned with the state of the world.[40] However, like a true fundamentalist, he is always seen confessing and trying to "pray it out" afterwards, even if worried and scared. Because he is willing to admit to his own flaws and doubts (if only to himself), he is arguably a more sympathetic character than he might be if he was nothing but a stereotype of judgmental self-righteousness. (In a rare moment of ignoring his prejudices, he once even acted out of sympathy towards Li'L Evil.[41])

He is an avid consumer of any and all Christian merchandise,[42] which the Devil often uses to tempt or distract him, offering items such as "a limited edition Golden Age Book of Genesis #1 with chrome foil cover, autographed by Moses."[43] Of course, this often blinds him to some modern day miracles; a constant running gag is having Seymour obsess over a Jesus related article, such as a piece of toast with the image of Jesus on it, only to run right by the real Jesus, who just stays quiet and keeps walking.

In the Ninja Theatre stories Seymour's alter ego is the Iron Monk, who endlessly praises Buddha while carrying signs.

Li'l Evil

The initially unnamed Devil's fanboy (later dubbed Li'l Evil, until the Devil referred to him as "Jethro"). Li'l Evil is a miniature (about Slick's height) copy of the Devil himself, usually seen dressed in an "E" T-shirt (he sometimes wears a suit like his idol) and with a pair of horns, except that he lacks a tail, a beard and supernatural powers. Unlike Slick, Li'l Evil may be a pre-adolescent. He is apparently a normal human dressed up as the Devil. He constantly tries to emulate his idol, much to The Devil's annoyance, although his acts of evil are rather mundane (such as returning a rented video without rewinding it).

The character's "evil" nature brings him into frequent conflict with his "good" counterpart Seymour, and the two are frequently seen exchanging insults. Li'l Evil has also been seen antagonizing Ezekiel and Ariel, and even yelling insults skyward at God, although God doesn't seem to regard him very seriously (once commenting that a tomato thrown up at him "missed"[44]). Despite his idol-worship of a supreme evil, Li'l Evil is primarily a humorous character, and there is little seriousness associated with him. One rare exception is a strip portraying him preparing to commit evil, walking along a street and seeing graffiti, strip clubs and homeless people. His only comment is, "Actually, there isn't much left for me to do."[45] His alarm is shown to go off at 7:06, which is 66 minutes after 6:00, thus alluding to the number of the Beast.

He is one of the few main comic characters who is shown to own a pet: a baby Cerberus, a three-headed pink puppy (who, like Li'l Evil himself, is very cute and not at all scary or evil-looking).[46] He later used black magic to summon "Klaatu Barada Nikto Savage Demon Hellhound",[47] a small, yipping dog which can breathe a little fire.

Ezekiel and Ariel

Ezekiel and Ariel are angels. Sometimes they look like angels, as they have wings and halos and fly around in the clouds. Other times, they are dressed smartly in suits and walk the earth proselytizing, not unlike Jehovah's Witnesses. Occasionally, the two are seen in a phone booth when transitioning between their suited disguise and their actual angel forms, a parody of Superman. Utterly devoted to each other, they never seem to disagree on anything and are almost always together, although on rare occasions, Ezekiel, on his own, chats with Slick while Ariel is presumably occupied elsewhere.

In keeping with their angelic status, they always behave perfectly. Unlike Seymour's constant consumerism, they are seen to be planning good deeds; they are virtually always cheerful and chipper, rarely falling into anything worse than mild befuddlement. Their only misbehavior is mocking the Devil, who occasionally goes out "angel-hunting". They have also been known to sing slightly unorthodox Christmas carols ("Jingle bells, Satan smells, Jesus is the way!"). However, some times the dialog between them can get very heavy on the double-entendres.[48][49]

Oddly, Ezekiel and Ariel seem to be the only major "supernatural" characters who never interacted with God in any strip for several years until finally doing so in the May 25, 2008 strip.

The Devil Girls

The Devil Girls are a pair of succubi. Like almost all female characters in the Sinfest universe, they were long left unnamed, but they are distinctive in that one has long magenta hair and the other has somewhat shorter blue hair. The pink, long-haired Devil Girl has been called Fuchsia[50] or Fyoosh,[51] and on April 25, 2009, the other one—Baby Blue or BB.[52] They are sometimes seen accompanying the Devil or working for him to corrupt his clients. They are not his only aides[53] but these two are more prominent; unlike most of the Devil's servants, they have horns and pointed tails identical to his own. Slick called one of the regular, hornless variant "android," a conjecture which the Devil later confirmed;[54] in one strip, he repairs a girl.[55] Their role is usually to expose the lust of the characters, usually Slick, in an amusingly stereotypical way.

They first appeared to tempt Slick into abandoning a temporary abstention from vice by performing sexually in front of him; since their antics were deliberately staged, it was at first unclear whether or not their apparent lesbianism might be simply an act to promote prurient interest. However, little hearts have floated above their heads as they fondle each other while Slick is not even noticeably watching,[56] suggesting genuine romantic feelings. They share a bed,[57] and have responded to "the dyke signal"[58] (part of a running gag where characters respond to a specific signal ala Batman), a somewhat clearer indication of their sexuality. Fuchsia is suggested to have a crush on Criminy,[26] after he reminded her of her humanity.[25] Her feelings have been steadily developing over the strips since Criminy first spoke with her. As yet, Baby Blue seems unaware of this development, although she has noticed her lover growing more distracted from their jobs.

The Dragon

Just as Christian religion is represented by God and the Devil, Asian religion and world views are represented by the Dragon. He puts in comparatively rare appearances. His goals in life are harmony, oneness and nirvana. According to Ishida, he is "possibly the only being who's got God's number."[12] He was once seen dueling with God, but the two more often interact as peers.

Like dragons of legend, the Dragon appears snake-like, can fly, and breathes fire. Additionally, he can control the weather.

Like God, he is rarely seen to display any strong emotion. He alternates between sarcasm and candor, even when he is speaking to God. Ishida employs different drawing styles to represent the dragon's predominant traits: in a silly or mischievous mood the dragon will look cartoony, almost reminiscent of a 30s cartoon character; in a serious mood he will turn angular, more realistic and sometimes even feature all-white eyes. Everywhere he shows up, clouds turn into Chinese lucky clouds.

Pooch and Percival

Usually separate from the world of the characters above is the world of Pooch and Percival (usually called Percy), a dog and cat, respectively. The main characters almost never appear with Pooch and Percy, and when they do there is very little interaction between them, with very few exceptions.[59] They also appear on decorated apparel in various strips; Monique has been shown to own stuffed animals of them.[60]

For the most part, Pooch and Percy strips have clean humor, more like one would expect from a "family" comic. The humor revolves around the nature of cats and dogs, their relationships with each other, with humans, and with nature. There is seldom any vulgar or suggestive humor, although Percy occasionally uses profanity.

Pooch and Percy live in the same household, with an owner (called "Master") who is heard and only occasionally seen but only in undetailed profile. It is likely that the "Master" is supposed to be Tatsuya Ishida himself, based on evidence from several comics. In one strip, a drawing board with a four-paneled paper strip on it is seen inside the house, a sketch of Monique visible.[61] In another incident, Pooch remarks on his owner Hunter-Gathering for food; Ishida's epigram for that strip reads "Hunter-Gatherer".[62] In one strip, Pooch is seen lying on master's lap, and master is wearing a shirt with the two Japanese characters that make up "Ishida" (石田).[63] Later, Pooch and Percy are shown talking about their master's work, at a drawing table. A sketch of Monique can be seen among the clutter on the desk[64] In a "Special Behind-The-Scenes Making Of Sinfest Featurette" in one strip, "master" is again shown at the drawing board.[65] For the most part, however, the two animals seem to be alone in the house.

Pooch is a stereotypical dog: unquestioningly adoring of his master, endlessly cheerful, and easily pleased. He celebrates at every meal ("Dog food! AGAIN! I am so LOVED!"). He has a ball that he calls "Bally" and loves to play with and talk to. Percy always disdains Pooch when he plays with Bally, but has been seen playing with Bally while Pooch is not there. Pooch loves to go outside (both animals are allowed to roam freely outside, unaccompanied) and commune with nature by frolicking in fallen leaves and watching birds and squirrels.

Percy is a stereotypical cat: he portrays himself (especially to Pooch) as very cynical, disdainful, solitary and mistrustful, but this is frequently shown to be just a front he puts on. He often unintentionally shows affection for Pooch, but tries to pretend otherwise as soon as he notices himself doing so. He is rarely seen to be cheerful except when he thinks he isn't being watched; otherwise, he often smiles sarcastically. He has a ball of yarn, called "Yarny", that he plays with, thinking he is a ferocious hunter. However, Yarny usually comes unraveled and Percy becomes hopelessly tangled. Percy often stalks birds, but always fails to catch them. He does kill flies, which puts him in a good mood for some time. He also has a girlfriend cat, whom he met while on one of his "calls of the wild", named Sophie.

It is hinted that Pooch and Percival can't really speak the Human language,[66] even though "Master" talks to Pooch and Percival and vice versa. Both sides seem to understand each other, but probably in the same way humans and animals understand each other in real life.

Pooch and Percival strips are fairly frequent, but not among the majority of Sinfest strips. In earlier strips they were more anthropomorphic; standing on two legs, holding objects in their "hands", but as the series progressed they lost those features.

Master

Master is Pooch and Percival's owner. He is an artist. His face was not shown until the June 30th, 2009 comic. Master may represent Ishida himself, as he is seen drawing cartoon strips which Pooch and Percival refer to as "distress signals".

Other characters

  • Jesus has appeared various points in the strip. In earlier years he would appear very rarely, did not interact with the other characters, and usually appeared to set up a joke or punch line. More recently he has become a more common appearance, mostly interacting with Buddha and the Devil, but not totally separate from the strip's other characters; ironically, the devout Seymour rarely notices him, so preoccupied with "Jesus merchandise" that he ignores the actual Jesus entirely.
  • Buddha, on the other hand, started appearing in late 2006 and, although he rarely speaks to others (on occasion he communicates with signs ala Wile E. Coyote), he does interact with the other characters, who sometimes observe and comment upon him from afar. Buddha appears mostly as an alternative point of view to the Judeo-Christian characters (such as one situation where he, both literally and metaphorically, goes directly in between God & the Devil having an argument[67]) much to the confusion or frustration of all. He is depicted as young, slim, and virtually imperturbable. He usually travels at seeming random on a cloud (making it more likely that the other characters will encounter him), with the ability to grant bodhi onto people by touching them with a finger ('zenzap'). His relationship with the other characters is best described as friendly, but distant - Slick and Squigley often call him simply "Bood". He and Jesus can sometimes be seen relaxing together under a tree.
  • Death, A new character, his first 'appearance' was as one of God's hand puppets,[68] before making an actual appearance himself later that same week.[69] Not much is known about him at the moment although it is noted he likes to sing and hang around Slick for some particular reason. He also tends to kill in a more modern fashion by using guns and special skills instead of just the classic scythe.
  • Lady Liberty made her first appearance during the US elections of 2008.[70] Being the spouse of Uncle Sam, she has to deal with all his quirks (megalomania,[71] lecherousness[72]) and also the family's current poverty. Despite seemingly being the rational one, she reacts overly violently to perceived threats.[73]
  • Uncle Sam made his first appearance during the US elections of 2008.[71] He is depicted as a somewhat impulsive, very self-absorbed[70] and not too responsible individual. He plays in a band where "Barackstar" recently became lead singer.[74]

Author

Tatsuya Ishida is the author of the Sinfest. He was also a penciller for Dark Horse Comics, where he worked on comic books of the licensed properties G.I. Joe and Godzilla. In the 1990s he co-created and penciled a comic called StrangeLove for Entity Comics with partner Stacy Freeman.

References

  1. ^ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/04/02/DD160575.DTL
  2. ^ http://media.www.commonwealthtimes.com/media/storage/paper634/news/2006/09/07/Spectrum/Webcomics.Come.Into.Their.Own-2260950.shtml
  3. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (February 21, 2007). "Creep-Os 3". Sinfest.
  4. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya. "Sinfest Archives".
  5. ^ http://dir.salon.com/story/tech/feature/2001/08/09/comics/index2.html
  6. ^ Hudson, Laura (2009-06-08). "The Wages of Sinfest". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  7. ^ http://www.bt.no/kultur/litteratur/article7455.ece
  8. ^ http://www.darkhorse.com/Books/16-026/Sinfest-Volume-1
  9. ^ http://www.darkhorse.com/Press-Releases/1679/Dark-Horse-Continues-to-Collect-the-Best-Comics-on-the-Web-with-the-Release-of-Sinfest-2-6-09
  10. ^ http://www.myspace.com/darkhorsepresents
  11. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (March 24, 2000). "Originality". Sinfest.
  12. ^ a b Old "cast" page on the Sinfest website, now available archived
  13. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (December 16, 2005). "Devil Signal 3". Sinfest.
  14. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (May 2, 2010). "Searching 7". Sinfest.
  15. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (February 9, 2000). "Pimpin' 3". Sinfest.
  16. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (February 10, 2000). "Pimpin' 4". Sinfest.
  17. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (August 27, 2009). "Meat 2". Sinfest.
  18. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (September 13, 2009). "Noble Path 3". Sinfest.
  19. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (January 16, 2003). "Loverboy 18". Sinfest.
  20. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (September 3, 2006). "Creative Process". Sinfest.
  21. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (June 5, 2004). "Dance Like No One's Watching". Sinfest.
  22. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (December 31, 2004). "God is My DJ". Sinfest.
  23. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (August 23, 2006). "Fort". Sinfest.
  24. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (February 7, 2009). "Aw Hell 5". Sinfest.
  25. ^ a b Ishida, Tatsuya (January 11, 2009). "Expand My World 6". Sinfest.
  26. ^ a b Ishida, Tatsuya (March 15, 2009). "Gypsy 'nique 5". Sinfest.
  27. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (April 27, 2000). "The Woman Debate". Sinfest.
  28. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (December 25, 2004). "Mistletoe". Sinfest.
  29. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (December 4, 2007). "Loving Tribute 2". Sinfest.
  30. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (October 24, 2006). "Innocence 2". Sinfest.
  31. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (November 24, 2006). "Buddha 4". Sinfest.
  32. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (January 13, 2006). "No More Datey 14". Sinfest.
  33. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (January 23, 2000). "Hand of God". Sinfest.
  34. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (July 15, 2002). "Bizzaro World". Sinfest.
  35. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (July 16, 2000). "True Image 11". Sinfest.
  36. ^ Herold, Lee Adam: Chopping Block strip for October 9, 2000
  37. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (April 28, 2000). "Loony Fanboy". Sinfest.
  38. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (December 23, 2007). "Jesus Flavored Power Drink". Sinfest.
  39. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (February 6, 2007). "Daddy's Little Girl 4". Sinfest.
  40. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (May 22, 2004). "Confession". Sinfest.
  41. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (February 2, 2004). "Convert 21". Sinfest.
  42. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (October 6, 2007). "Rituals". Sinfest.
  43. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (October 28, 2006). "Innocence 6". Sinfest.
  44. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (March 28, 2007). "I Heckle You Now". Sinfest.
  45. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (October 2, 2002). "Evil 7". Sinfest.
  46. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (October 1, 2006). "Day in the Life 3". Sinfest.
  47. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (August 18, 2008). "Demon". Sinfest.
  48. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (May 4, 2000). "Angel Hunting 4". Sinfest.
  49. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (December 26, 2002). "Season for Giving 11". Sinfest.
  50. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (March 15, 2009). "Step Into My Office". Sinfest.
  51. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (March 15, 2009). "Medication". Sinfest.
  52. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (April 25, 2009). "Convert". Sinfest.
  53. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (July 30, 2006). "Work Both Sides". Sinfest.
  54. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (July 15, 2007). "Hard". Sinfest.
  55. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (November 5, 2006). "Hard 3". Sinfest.
  56. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (September 16, 2007). "Lesbo Snatch-O-Gram 7". Sinfest.
  57. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (August 17, 2008). "Day in the Life 8". Sinfest.
  58. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (May 5, 2008). "The Dyke Signal". Sinfest.
  59. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (December 10, 2004). "Run Around 5". Sinfest.
  60. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (June 2, 2005). "List 2". Sinfest.
  61. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (December 9, 2004). "Run Around 4". Sinfest.
  62. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (May 23, 2005). "Wowee 2". Sinfest.
  63. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (October 20, 2006). "Announcement". Sinfest.
  64. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (January 22, 2007). "Distress Signal". Sinfest.
  65. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (April 29, 2007). "Sinfest Special Edition". Sinfest.
  66. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (November 27, 2005). "Come Back 14 (No habla the humanese)". Sinfest.
  67. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (November 21, 2006). "Buddha". Sinfest.
  68. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (August 5, 2008). "Death Puppet". Sinfest.
  69. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (August 9, 2008). "Death Puppet 5". Sinfest.
  70. ^ a b Ishida, Tatsuya (September 25, 2008). "Fedegra". Sinfest.
  71. ^ a b Ishida, Tatsuya (September 22, 2008). "Uncle Sam Not Depressed". Sinfest.
  72. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (October 11, 2008). "Imperialism". Sinfest.
  73. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (November 2, 2008). "Genocide". Sinfest.
  74. ^ Ishida, Tatsuya (November 14, 2008). "New Lead Singer". Sinfest.
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