Subnormality
| Subnormality | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Winston Rowntree |
| Current status/schedule | Running |
| Launch date | 2007 (at Virus Comix) |
| Genre(s) | Humor, Politics, Satire, Absurd |
Subnormality is a bi-weekly satirical and often absurdist webcomic by cartoonist Winston Rowntree (a pseudonym), a former resident of Regina, Saskatchewan. The strip appears at Rowntree's own webcomic-site Virus Comix and occasionally at Cracked, where Rowntree also publishes the related webcomic Abnormality.
Style and themes
Subnormality makes heavy use of written language; it is frequently verbose, often featuring large portions of text in the form of lengthy monologues and dialogues, narrative boxes or thought balloons. Occasionally, as in the strip "The Line", it will heavily integrate text within the image and/or consist almost entirely of text. This heavy use of text is acknowledged by the comic's current slogan, which is "Comix with too many words since 2007". When asked in an interview about his use of words, Rowntree said: "In terms of the amount of text in a given comic, I make absolutely no efforts whatsoever to limit that. If what I want to say is 2000 words then that’s how much text is gonna be in there."[1]
Another common component of the comic's artistic style is visual easter eggs.
In tone and content, strips are occasionally just absurd or parody, and are often comedic; however, some, such as "The Line", are non-humorous in tone and even many of the comedic strips often make comments on human nature (often misanthropic or deconstructive in nature) or current politics (often left-leaning).
Recurring characters
The Subnormality strips are not bound to any particular setting or characters, but certain characters have appeared several times throughout its run.
The Sphynx
This most recognizable of Subnormality's characters is a gigantic, winged lion with a woman's head. She lives in a suburban house somewhere in an English-speaking country (presumably Canada or the USA), and is often seen doing 'normal' things like waiting for the bus or trying to get a job. She holds feminist attitudes, and generally gets her way by being insistent and effortlessly scary enough for people to give her what she wants. Despite this, she complains about being "too polite" to humans, since she generally tries to conform to the current norms and learn the dominant language of the era (she is over 3500 years old), and even "eat[s] people quickly and painlessly". She appears to have a friendly relationship with Pink-Haired Girl.[2]
Pink-Haired Girl
A young woman with bright pink hair who tries to cope with being near-constantly broke, battling with dishonest salespeople, impolite customers, foolish bosses, uncaring co-workers, and her own reluctance to say no when asked to do people favors (she describes herself as a "pushover"). For a while she works as a waitress, during which she is forced to dye her hair brown; she eventually quits the job, at which point her hair immediately becomes pink again. She is often depicted as slightly depressed, although her earnestness, sociability and friendliness are also often emphasized, especially in contrast to others (e.g. the comic "Hockey"[1] ). Though she appears as a minor character of comics such as "Hockey", she also stars in many strips as a main character; strips featuring her are generally titled with names beginning with Down (e.g. "Down by table 22", "Down at the Bus Stop"). She interacts in a friendly manner with the Sphynx from time to time.[3]
Devil #76
A green-skinned employee of Hell, who sometimes surfaces to Earth for shopping and dating.[4] She is bisexual.[5]
Ethel Blackmore
A young, depressive writer who earns money by reading her horror fiction to clients that accost her in a manner intentionally reminescent of prostitution. Describes herself as an "art addict".
Zoe Muggs
A lonely, ragged young woman who lives on the streets downtown, shoplifting and begging. In her strips, she often comments on individualism and "normality".[6]
Neo-Nazi Time-Travellers
Incompetent neo-Nazis who travel in time in order to find ways of killing Franklin D. Roosevelt[7] or undermining the Allied powers from within.[8]
Mongo
A lonely character with low self-esteem which takes some time to reflect about himself and society.[9] He works at Movie Cone,[10] is uncomfortable revealing anything about himself[11] and drinks in a futile quest for self-acceptance.[12]
Woman Who Talks Like A Man / Wings Fan
An unnamed, attractive, and curvaceous woman who is featured in several strips as unintentionally causing the deaths (or strange transformations) of men just by being interested in the same things as they are, such as hobbies most commonly appreciated by men.[13]
Best Friends Who Hate Each Other
Two men (one of whom has been named Raoul) who exist to display and hang a lampshade on the cliché friends-who-hate-each-other trope, but are trope-savvy and recognize this about themselves.[14]
References
- ^ http://curiousjoe.org/2011/04/22/virus-comix-subnormality/
- ^ http://www.viruscomix.com/page467.html
- ^ http://www.viruscomix.com/page522.html
- ^ http://www.viruscomix.com/page518.html
- ^ http://www.viruscomix.com/page530.html
- ^ http://www.viruscomix.com/page516.html
- ^ http://www.viruscomix.com/page484.html
- ^ http://www.viruscomix.com/page513.html
- ^ http://www.viruscomix.com/page514.html
- ^ http://www.viruscomix.com/page442.html
- ^ http://www.viruscomix.com/page443.html
- ^ http://www.viruscomix.com/page534.html
- ^ http://www.viruscomix.com/page429.html
- ^ http://www.viruscomix.com/page507.html