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* '''Indie Rock Pete''' (later found to be named "Pete Weiner", much to his disdain), a [[poseur]] obsessed with the idea of maintaining a facade of [[indie cred]]. Attempts to manipulate the other characters, but usually fails. Pete works as a substitute high school teacher, and developed a crush on one of his students before [http://www.dieselsweeties.com/archive.php?s=1740 finding out she was in high school]. Introduced in strip [http://www.dieselsweeties.com/archive.php?s=2 #2].
* '''Indie Rock Pete''' (later found to be named "Pete Weiner", much to his disdain), a [[poseur]] obsessed with the idea of maintaining a facade of [[indie cred]]. Attempts to manipulate the other characters, but usually fails. Pete works as a substitute high school teacher, and developed a crush on one of his students before [http://www.dieselsweeties.com/archive.php?s=1740 finding out she was in high school]. Introduced in strip [http://www.dieselsweeties.com/archive.php?s=2 #2].


* '''Lil' Sis''', Maura's younger sister. Worked at a comic store for a time. Her first name is generally not mentioned, but was once stated as "Persephone" in strip [http://www.dieselsweeties.com/archive.php?s=1241 #1241]. Was once featured as Faye's sister's lesbian lover in [[Questionable Content]] (QC strip [http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=171 #171]). Introduced in strip [http://www.dieselsweeties.com/archive.php?s=5 #5].
* '''Lil' Sis''', Maura's younger sister. Worked at a comic store for a time. Her name is generally not mentioned, but was once revealed as "Persephone Marie" in strip [http://www.dieselsweeties.com/archive.php?s=1241 #1241]. Was once featured in [[Questionable Content]] (QC strip [http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=171 #171]) as the girlfriend of a minor character. Introduced in strip [http://www.dieselsweeties.com/archive.php?s=5 #5].


*'''Electron Mike''', an extreme [[technophilia|technophile]] who listens to [[techno music]] and collects [[iPod]]s. Introduced in strip [http://www.dieselsweeties.com/archive.php?s=558 #558].
*'''Electron Mike''', an extreme [[technophilia|technophile]] who listens to [[techno music]] and collects [[iPod]]s. Introduced in strip [http://www.dieselsweeties.com/archive.php?s=558 #558].

Revision as of 05:46, 15 February 2008

Diesel Sweeties
Diesel Sweeties number 1.
Author(s)Richard Stevens III
Websitehttp://dieselsweeties.com
Current status/scheduleRunning
Launch date2000
Syndicate(s)United Features Syndicate (print)
Genre(s)Humor

Diesel Sweeties is a webcomic and newspaper comic strip written by Richard Stevens III (R Stevens).[1] The comic began in 2000,[2] originally hosted at robotstories.com. It was later picked up for newspaper syndication, beginning in 2007.

For the first several years, the comic consisted of four square panels of dialogue in a two-by-two grid, with a punchline (often a non sequitur, pun, or pop culture reference) in the final panel. In 2005 Stevens abandoned this traditional form and began consistently publishing strips with more panels in slightly more varied configurations. Single panels of the strip are occasionally animated. The comic depicts a world where robots exist alongside humans, with human-robot romantic and sexual relationships commonplace. Although there is some character development and the occasional story arc, most strips are largely self-contained. Recurring themes include annual Halloween strips, featuring characters from the comic in costume. The comic is made up entirely of large pixels (3x3 each).

Diesel Sweeties is part of the Dumbrella community of web comics.

In late 2006, Richard Stevens announced that Diesel Sweeties was picked up for newspaper syndication, through United Features Syndicate. To replace FoxTrot, which ended its daily run, some newspapers began the strip on January 1, 2007. [3] The regular distribution began a week later, on January 8.

Material from Diesel Sweeties appears in Ted Rall's Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists, along with other webcomics such as Cat and Girl, Dinosaur Comics, Boy on a Stick and Slither, Fetus-X, and The Perry Bible Fellowship.[2]

Characters

Diesel Sweeties incorporates many characters from other fictional works, from the real world, and introduces many original characters.

Main Characters in the newspaper version

comics.com describes the strip as "reformatted" for family newspapers. Here are the reformatted stories of the main characters:

Clango Cyclotron is a robot, and a nice guy, and a red-blooded male as a robot can be. He has been dating Maura Glee for some time and trying his best to understand humans.

Maura Glee is a retired dot-com investor (or porn star) who cashed out before the market went south in, presumably, 2000. She is bored, but loves Clango, to the exclusion of others, especially human males. Her hobbies include drinking and drinking.

Indie Rock Pete composes music that nobody will hear. He manages a video store that refuses to rent movies that have been released on DVD. He discusses matters of the world with Clango.

Lil’ Sis is Maura’s younger sister. She has recently moved in with Indie Rock Pete, but alas, it's platonic. She longs for Pete, but he's not buying.

Metal Steve is a real musician, a true rocker. Lil' Sis is interested in him as well.

Red Robot #C-63 has a mission, which is to kill every human on the planet. This, however, doesn't prevent him from exchanging bits of philosophy with the others in the pixelated crew, human and otherwise.

Other new characters include TV, Coffee Maker, and Kitten. Together, they rule the household.

Main Characters, original version

As defined by the Cast Page, the main characters in Diesel Sweeties are:

Clango and Pale Suzie discuss donuts.
  • Clango Cyclotron, an emotional robot. Introduced as the boyfriend of Maura Glee, the relationship later ended, and he is currently dating Pale Suzie, although she recently shot him with an orbital laser when she suspected he was cheating on her with Maura. He deliberately erased his memory so that he "can be even more innocent than (he) is now!". Unfortunately Indie Rock Pete broke the backup CD, and Clango had to be restarted with an old boot disk from his days with Maura. He thinks he is currently dating Maura. He was adopted by human parents, and has several famous human aunts and uncles, including Steve Wozniak, Beck, Courtney Love, and Stan Lee. Introduced in strip #1.
  • Maura Demeter Glee, (full name revealed in strip 1698 [1]) an alcoholic ex-pornstar. Introduced as Clango's girlfriend, she got dumped for cheating on him. After Clango had his memory erased without a recent backup Maura provided an old one and thus they are now back together. Introduced in strip #1.
  • Indie Rock Pete (later found to be named "Pete Weiner", much to his disdain), a poseur obsessed with the idea of maintaining a facade of indie cred. Attempts to manipulate the other characters, but usually fails. Pete works as a substitute high school teacher, and developed a crush on one of his students before finding out she was in high school. Introduced in strip #2.
  • Lil' Sis, Maura's younger sister. Worked at a comic store for a time. Her name is generally not mentioned, but was once revealed as "Persephone Marie" in strip #1241. Was once featured in Questionable Content (QC strip #171) as the girlfriend of a minor character. Introduced in strip #5.
  • Metal Steve, a mullet-sporting rocker. The virginal yin to Pete's lecherous yang. He has had ongoing flirtations with both Lil Sis and Pale Suzie, but neither has successfully bedded him. Implied to be unusually well-endowed (strip #767); he was briefly recruited by Maura as a porn star for masturbation movies, but was run out of the business for refusing to work with a partner. Introduced in strip #76.
  • Pale Suzie, a cheerful goth chick and occasional furry who went on a date with Clango, while he and Maura were "on a break". She dated Clango for several months, but after she accused Clango of cheating on her with Maura (after they had been playing "wii" together), he had his memory erased so that he "can be even more innocent than (he) is now!". Unfortunately Indie Rock Pete broke the backup CD and now Clango is unaware he ever dated Pale Suzie. Introduced in strip #436.
  • Red Robot #C-63, a robot dedicated to the crushing of hu-mans, although he has also been known to date them on occasion. He is insanely wealthy after making a deal with Maura. Introduced in strip #24.

Minor Human Characters

Generally in the order of appearance. Also includes some animals.

  • Collin, a technician who occasionally repairs Clango. Introduced in strip #16.
  • Joel, a computer programmer. Introduced in strip #21.
  • Eve: A bisexual, she dated Lil Sis briefly, as well as Red Robot. She also went through a Christian phase. Introduced in strip #163.
  • Pretty Carl, Maura's annoying but handsome ex-boyfriend. Introduced in strip #325.
  • Nipples the Bear, a weird furry who always wears a blue bear costume with nipples. Nipples is implied to be a stand-in for Rich Stevens, the author. Introduced in strip #338.
  • Ghost Zack, a goth boy who sometimes hangs out with Pale Suzie. Does not like Suzie's generally cheery disposition. Introduced in strip #442.
  • Super Raoul, a shiny Hispanic who shows up occasionally. Introduced in strip #617.
  • Kevin, a heavy-metal friend of Metal Steve. Introduced in strip #1244.
  • Myspace Girl (Kaitlyn), a hipster who is into marine biology for the seahorses, and living the sheltered college life. Engages in witty repartee and has been known to hit on Indie Rock Pete, though has recently married a man she met while on holiday in England, much to Indie Rock Pete's chagrin. Introduced in strip #1477.

Minor Non-human Characters

  • Roger, Clango's orange cat. Introduced in strip #68 (but first mentioned by name in #128).
  • John Stamos, Clango's black kitten. Although named after the male actor John Stamos, the kitten is a female. Introduced in strip #856.
  • Johnny Toaster, a toaster of few words. Introduced in strip #7.
  • Menace-11, a robot who is even more sinister than Red Robot. Also gay and sometimes a cross-dresser (when she prefers to be called Menace-Ellen). Introduced in strip #225.
  • Uncle Grandpa, a Macintosh SE computer, and Clango's Uncle Grandpa. Once ran for office. Introduced in strip #235.
  • Torpor, a polite friendly robot who likes to lift things. Torpor is often a target of abuse for Red Robot and Menace-11—although once in a bit of turnabout he tore Red Robot's head off (strip #954)—and has been dismantled and rebuilt at least once. Introduced in strip #670.

Cameos from Other Comics and Fiction

Cartoons of Real People

Diesel Sweeties often shows pixelated versions of real people in the strip. Some of these people include:

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ Reconstructivist Art, Kitoba "Computer artist R. Stevens has been producing his subversive webcomic for over six years"
  2. ^ a b Rall, Ted (2006). Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists, New York: Nantier, Beall, Minoustchine. ISBN 1-56163-465-4. p. 17-20.
  3. ^ Astor, Dave (January 2, 2007). "'Lio' and 'Pearls' Among Comics Replacing Daily 'FoxTrot'". editorandpublisher.com

External links


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