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Achewood
Image:Achewood.gif
Author(s) Chris Onstad
Website http://www.achewood.com
Current status / schedule 3–5 times a week
Launch date October 1, 2001 [1]
Genre(s) Comedy, Slice-of-life

Achewood is a webcomic created by Chris Onstad. An author is defined both as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created Christopher Onstad (born June 14, 1975) is a writer cartoonist and artist known best for Achewood, a regularly updated Webcomic. A website (alternatively web site or Web site, a back-construction from the Proper noun World Wide Web) is a collection of Web pages Events 331 BC - Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela. Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. Comedy (from the Greek κωμωδίαkomodia has a popular meaning (any discourse generally intended to amuse especially in Television, Film, and A slice of life story is a category for a story that portrays a "cut-out" sequence of events in a character's life Webcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are Comics Published on a Website, often exclusively providing easy access to an Christopher Onstad (born June 14, 1975) is a writer cartoonist and artist known best for Achewood, a regularly updated Webcomic. It portrays the lives of a group of anthropomorphic stuffed toys, robots, and pets. Anthropomorphism is the attribution of uniquely Human characteristics to non-human creatures and beings natural and supernatural phenomena material states and objects A robot is a mechanical or Virtual Artificial agent In practice it is usually an electro-mechanical system which by its appearance or movements Many of the characters live together in the home of their owner, Chris, at the fictional address of 62 Achewood Court. The events of the strip mostly take place in and around the house, as well as around the town of Achewood, the fictional suburb which gives its name to the comic, and is likely a thinly-veiled Palo Alto, California. Palo Alto (ˌpæloʊˈæltoʊ from Spanish: palo: "stick" and alto: "high" i [1] The comic's humor is most often absurdist, generally lacking a set punch line, and sometimes branches into the surreal[2]. Absurdism is a Philosophy stating that the efforts of humanity to find meaning in the Universe ultimately fail (and hence are absurd because no such A punch line is the final part of a Joke or comedy sketch usually the word sentence or exchange of sentences which is intended to be Funny and to provoke Surreal humour is a form of humour, laughingly in a style related to the artistic ambitions of the surrealists, based on bizarre Juxtapositions absurd situations

Contents

History and overview

The first Achewood strip ("Philippe is standing on it") was released on October 1, 2001. Events 331 BC - Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela. Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. The strip sets the tone for future strips, with its nonsensical humor and surprising visual punchline. In this particular strip, Mr. Bear and Téodor are discussing Téodor's confusion over a drum machine. For the early "drum machine" computers that used a rotating cylinder as their main memory see Drum memory A drum machine is an Mr. Bear informs Téodor that there is an instruction manual. However, Philippe is standing on it.

Throughout Achewood, there is no distinguishable underlying storyline — aside, perhaps, for the general passing of time and development of the comic's characters and their interrelationships. Onstad's preferred method of story-telling is to develop his characters through one-off strips and short story arcs. Strips are humorous, relying upon inane and chaotic humor as well as social stereotypes, occasional burlesque literary and historical references, and strong characterization of the comic's many quirky individuals. Burlesque is theatrical entertainment of broad and parodic humor which usually consists of comic skits (and sometimes a strip tease) The humor often depends on an in-depth knowledge of the characters and their interactions; a drop-down box on the lower left side of the home page entitled "Jump to a Story Arc" has links to the beginning of 46 story arcs from 2002 to 2006. Story arcs are often interrupted as the main action "cuts away" to the doings of other Achewood characters, which may or may not eventually tie in with the main storyline in progress.

Chris Onstad has self-published fifteen books: seven collections of Achewood comics, two books by character Nice Pete ("A Wonderful Tale" and "A Hilarious Comedy"), six 'zines by another named Roast Beef, and Recipes for a Lady or a Man: The Achewood Cookbook with recipes from several of the main characters. A zine (an abbreviation of the word Fanzine, or magazine ziːn "zeen" is most commonly a small circulation non-commercial Publication

In the fall of 2002 Achewood 's "Sunday Edition" became part of the online alternative comics anthology Serializer. The term "alternative comics" is one of several labels applied to a range of Comics that have appeared since about 1980 in the wake of the Underground comix For the computer programming mechanism see Serialization serializer In their review of serializer. net, The Comics Journal wrote: "It's a pleasure to see strips like Achewood's "Sunday" strip . The Comics Journal, often abbreviated TCJ, is a US magazine of news and criticism pertaining to Comic books and strips . . use the newspaper format for far more daring, entertainingly perverse work . . . would be perfectly at home at a good alternative weekly or a great college paper. " Achewood is sometimes featured in the Chaparral, Stanford University's humor publication, of which Onstad is an editor emeritus. The Stanford Chaparral (also known as the Chappie) is Stanford University 's humor Magazine, established in 1899 by Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly known as Stanford University or simply Stanford, is a private Research university located in

On April 30, 2003, Onstad introduced a new feature to the Achewood universe — an advice column written by the character Ray called Ray's Place. Events 313 - Roman emperor Licinius unifies the entire Eastern Roman Empire under his rule Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. This column has served to further develop the Achewood canon by allowing prose related to the characters to be written. The column has developed characters, mainly as perceived by Ray. It also allows for an interaction between reader and character, a novelty in comic art.

July 2004 saw the introduction of several in-character blogs. July 2004: January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September A blog (a contraction of the term " Web log " is a Web site, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary descriptions of The main characters all began writing (using Blogger) to speak to their audience. Blogger is a Blog publishing system. It was created by Pyra Labs, which was bought by Google in 2003 This unique perspective further advances character development allowing the daily, often mundane, events of the character to find their way to the audience. Onstad stated in an interview that he found the blogs easier to maintain than the strip, as they do not require as much refining. This method of connecting the audience and the characters has been extended further with the opening of a forum [2] supposedly maintained by Emeril, a character from the strip.

In late 2004, it was announced that Checker Book Publishing Group was to release a collection of Achewood comics later that year. Checker Book Publishing Group is an independent publisher of Comics reprints from newspaper strips to modern out-of-print titles and collections from defunct [3] Checker had signed Chris Onstad to a three-book deal that was to begin in November 2004. November 2004: January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September However, the deal was canceled soon after due to creative differences.

On September 12, 2007, Achewood was named "Funniest Webcomic" by humor website Cracked.com. Events 1213 - Albigensian Crusade: Simon de Montfort 5th Earl of Leicester, defeats Peter II of Aragon at the Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. This article is about the defunct American magazine For the Scottish television series see Cracked (TV series Cracked is a discontinued [4]

Chris Onstad participated in Song Fight! by creating cover art and title for "What We Need More of is Science", "Red Skates", and "Livin' At The Corner Of Dude And Catastrophe". Song Fight! is a weekly online songwriting and recording competition in which amateur artists are openly invited to participate The first title originated as a Roast Beef expression on merchandise. One Song Fight entry was performed by Milwaukee Youth Center Choir, who also wrote and recorded a theme for Ray's Place, Ray's advice column. An entry by MC Frontalot won the latest Song Fight and is now the current theme song for the comic. Damian Hess (born December 3 1973) known by Stage name MC Frontalot, is a San Francisco Hip hop musician and self-proclaimed

Time Magazine named Achewood its #1 Graphic Novel of 2007. Time (trademarked in capitals as TIME) is a weekly American Newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. [3]

On September 10, 2008 Dark Horse Comics will publish a 104-page extended version of "The Great Outdoor Fight" story arc, with a deleted scene, background material on the Fight and other original content. Events 506 - The Bishops of Visigothic Gaul meet in the Council of Agde. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common

Etymology

According to the official website, "achewood" was an ingredient used by slaves during the United States of America antebellum in the production of "achewater", a now outlawed Southern drink with psychedelic properties, similar to the use of wormwood in the production of absinthe. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South Absinthe is traditionally a distilled, highly alcoholic (45%-75% ABV) beverage This liquor would induce melancholia in the drinker, hence the name. [5]

The Underground

The Achewood Underground is an underground version of the human city above, inhabited and run by animals both stuffed and real, as well as several robots. The underground has its own businesses and establishments that parallel those above ground, and its inhabitants often steal or borrow things from their human counterparts aboveground. Aside from Achewood, it is assumed that most cities around the world have their own undergrounds as well. [6]

The Overground

The geography of the Achewood Overground (compare: "Google Map of Palo Alto") is based on that of the Palo Alto/Stanford area. Palo Alto (ˌpæloʊˈæltoʊ from Spanish: palo: "stick" and alto: "high" i Stanford is a Census-designated place (CDP in Santa Clara County, California, United States. Dexter University corresponds to Stanford University, Achewood Heights is equivalent to Menlo Park, East Achewood is analogous to East Palo Alto, and the Achewood Estates/Achewood areas refer to different areas of Palo Alto. Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly known as Stanford University or simply Stanford, is a private Research university located in Menlo Park is an affluent City in San Mateo County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California East Palo Alto (often called EPA) is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States.

Characters

Raymond Quentin Smuckles

Ray's Blog

Ray Quentin Smuckles[7] is a cat, more specifically, an American Curl, a breed that originated from Lakewood, California. WikipediaManual of Style (spelling, articles should conform to one overall spelling style of English typically the one most linked to the article topic (if it is geographic The American Curl is a breed of Cat characterized by its unusual ears which curl back from the face toward the center of the back of the skull Lakewood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. He has expertise in such diverse fields as cookery, alcohol, underground street dancing, piano playing, entrepreneurship, and women. Cooking is the process of preparing Food by applying Heat, selecting measuring and combining of ingredients in an ordered procedure for producing safe and edible In Chemistry, an alcohol is any Organic compound in which a Hydroxyl group ( - O[[hydrogen H]]) is bound to a Carbon Entrepreneurship is the practice of starting new Organizations or revitalizing mature Organizations particularly new Businesses generally in response to identified Ray made his first appearance on January 10, 2002. Events 49 BC - Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signaling the start of civil war. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. Along with his best friend Roast Beef, Ray is the central character of the strip; their relationship lies at the heart of Achewood. Ray can be identified by his designer glasses, his habitual wearing of a thong since the January 14, 2002 strip,[8] the occasional fur coat, and a gold medallion which once belonged to the fictitious Incan Fun God, "King Chochacho. Origin G-string or thong is probably the earliest form of Clothing known to mankind having originated in the warmer climates of Sub-Saharan Africa where clothing Events 1129 - Formal approval of the Order of the Templar at the Council of Troyes. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. Fur clothing is Clothing made entirely of or partially of the Fur of animals " Ray often speaks of his heritage: his mother's family, the Culpeppers, are French Catholic Southern gentry, while his father's, the Smuckles, are a diverse collection of tough, philosophical underworld characters (more below).

Ray tends to be rather lucky, acquiring money in a variety of ways, including a record contract with Sony (after selling his soul to the devil for a piano that grants the buyer musical genius [4]), an auspicious eBay purchase of vintage erotica valued at 600 million dollars, and various business ventures. Ray is Founder, President and CEO of Prime Time Records, which releases mostly rap music. Through eBay Platinum Reserve, he now owns Airwolf, Keith Moon's head, and the world's biggest laser. Airwolf is an American Television series that ran from 1984 through 1987 Keith John Moon ( August 23, 1946 &ndash September 7, 1978) was the Drummer of the rock group The Who. He enjoys throwing lavish parties with unusual themes. Ray drives a Cadillac Escalade. The Cadillac Escalade is a Full-size luxury Sport utility vehicle (SUV sold by the General Motors luxury brand Cadillac He is very generous to his friends and to people in general, but on an entirely random basis and interspersed with long periods of outright rudeness and total insensitivity. He also has a very serious obsession with Ketel One and Zinfandel alcohols. Ketel One Vodka is distilled from 100% wheat and made at the Nolet Distillery in Schiedam, Holland. Zinfandel is a variety of red Grape planted in over 10 percent of California wine vineyards Although Ray personally obtained his musical skills from a deal with the devil, there has been at least one other musical genius in his lineage: his paternal grandfather Antonyne Cheops Smuckles, better known as the legendary bluesman Rustmouth Chafings.

On the other hand, he has a weakness for gambling, and often loses up to thousands of dollars while playing golf and pool with his friends. Ray has a penchant for prank calls, whether outgoing (Marmaduke, Cathy) or incoming (telemarketers). Marmaduke is a Newspaper Comic strip drawn by Brad Anderson from 1954 to the present day Cathy is a Comic strip drawn by Cathy Guisewite. Featuring a woman who struggles through the "four basic guilt groups" of life &mdash food love mom and Telemarketing is a method of Direct marketing in which a Salesperson solicits to prospective Customers to buy products or services, He also has a sexual fetish for women sitting on birthday cakes, although recently he has shown to have lost interest, and become a "breast man. This article concerns the concept of fetishism in Anthropology. "[5] Ray drinks alcohol throughout the day; numerous strips imply that he is an alcoholic, and his physician, Dr. Andretti, has repeatedly warned him that he is in severe danger of becoming diabetic. Diabetes mellitus (ˌdaɪəˈbiːtiːz or /ˌdaɪəˈbiːtəs/ /məˈlaɪtəs/ or /ˈmɛlətəs/ often referred to simply as diabetes ( Ancient Greek: grc (Ray is somewhat overweight and potbellied. ) A few years into the strip Ray learned his father, Ramses Luther Smuckles, won the 1973 Great Outdoor Fight, which inspired Ray to enter the 2006 Fight. Ray defeated all other entrants in the Fight except for Roast Beef (see below), and demolished the Fight grounds when he discovered that Fight regulations required that he beat Beef to unconsciousness in order to win. Ray has a half-brother named Dornheim Smuckles who is also the son of Ramses Luther Smuckles, presumably by a different mother. A young cat who lives with Ray -- "Little Nephew" -- refers to him as "Uncle. " Little Nephew's parentage has not been established.

Ray also writes the advice column "Ray's Place" on the Achewood site, though there is a disclaimer at the bottom warning that the advice is in fact from a cartoon cat.

Ray was originally introduced as a minor supporting character, part of a trio of cats (along with Roast Beef and Pat) who were always seen together, and fancied themselves "the dirtiest dudes in town" due to their reputed penchant for foul language. As time passed, Onstad began to give the three cats individual personalities, and before long the focus of Achewood began to move away from the four stuffed animals living in the Onstad residence and onto Ray and Beef. The increasingly abrasive Pat remained in a supporting role, eventually turning the trio into a duo.

Ray is a member of a syndicate of other flamboyantly rich, jive-talking cats, including AKKOLADE and Bensington Butters, his rival. They spend their time on theme parties, weekend retreats and plotting to sabotage the other members' images.

Cassandra "Roast Beef" Kazenzakis

Roast Beef's Blog

Roast Beef (first name, Cassandra — when he was born he was mistakenly thought to be female), a cat, is interested in computer programming and has a girlfriend Molly formerly in heaven, where he visited her twice: once after being shot by Pat and once after driving a golf cart off a cliff while high on marijuana [6]. Heaven may refer to the physical heavens the sky or the seemingly endless expanse of the Universe beyond A golf cart or golf buggy (officially referred to as a golf car according to ANSI standard z130 Cannabis, also known as marijuana or marihuana, or ganja (from Hindi / Sanskrit: गांजा gānjā hemp) is a Molly now lives on Earth, and is now in a relationship with Beef, as those who know him call him. Beef asked Molly to marry him on June 7, 2007 [7]. Events 1099 - The First Crusade: The Siege of Jerusalem begins Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.

It seems that Roast Beef has had a desperately unhappy and impoverished childhood. [8] [9] [10] He has seemingly incurable depression, Seasonal Affective Disorder, and/or Avoidant personality disorder, and considers suicide often, though no one seems to care. Major depressive disorder, also known as major depression, unipolar depression, unipolar disorder, clinical depression, or simply depression Seasonal affective disorder ( SAD) also known as winter depression, is a Mood disorder in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year experience Avoidant personality disorder (APD or AvPD or Anxious personality disorder (APD is a Personality disorder from the DSM handbook characterized by Recently however, his depression seems to have improved, particularly since he met Molly. Molly has also gotten him a light therapy lamp[11], which helps when he remembers to use it[12]. Light therapy or phototherapy consists of exposure to daylight or to specific wavelengths of light using Lasers, LEDs Fluorescent lamps, For a long time he lived in a trailer with his abusive grandmother, Gramma K. , but has since moved out of the trailer and into Ray's pool shed. His speech balloons use a slightly smaller font than that of other characters and rarely include punctuation, to emphasize his timidity and unique manner of speech. Speech balloons (also speech bubbles, dialogue balloons, or word balloons) are a graphic convention used most commonly in Comic books strips Roast Beef sometimes sports an impressive vocabulary and will, on occasion, sprinkle words such as "insatiable", "phenomena", or "corpulent" into his normally slang filled dialogue.

He has been shot at least four times. One shooting lodged a bullet in his spine, which grants him permanent wireless Internet access (though this has only been mentioned once [13] since, and he still uses physical computers to access the net). Wi-Fi (ˈwaɪfaɪ is the trade name for the popular wireless technology used Another shooting resulted in his cardio-pulmonary system being replaced by that of an AIBO. AIBO ( A rtificial I ntelligence ro' BO' t homonymous with "pal" in Japanese was one of several types of Robotic Pets designed He has also been shot at least one additional time by Ray and once fatally by Lie Bot (who was masquerading as Ray's uncle Culpepper).

Roast Beef's birthday is April 22nd. Some of his accomplishments include a program that determines how many eggs and how much milk you need to buy in a given week, and another that determines the amount of loose change lying around your house and makes a reservation at a restaurant accordingly. Computer programs (also software programs, or just programs) are instructions for a Computer. Roast Beef is partial to UNIX and his preferred programming language is Java. Unix (officially trademarked as UNIX, sometimes also written as Unix with Small caps) is a computer Java (Jawa is an Island of Indonesia and the site of its Capital city Jakarta. He likes Stella Artois beer and Guinness. Stella Artois (ˈstɛlə ɑrˈtwɑː is a 52% ABV global Lager first brewed in Leuven, Belgium in 1926 as a Christmas brew Guinness (ˈɡɪnɪs is a popular Dry stout that originated in Arthur Guinness ' brewery at St He is perhaps the world's greatest historian of the Great Outdoor Fight, and drove Ray to compete (and win) in the 2006 Fight. He also managed to get into the fight himself by hacking the fight's database. A Computer Database is a structured collection of records or data that is stored in a computer system He drives a 1965 Ford Galaxie (powered by Ford's rare 427 SOHC V8) that was a gift from Ray. See also the Ford Galaxy Large MPV of the 2000s. The Ford Galaxie was a full-size car built in the The Ford FE engine was a Ford V8 engine used in vehicles sold in the North American market between 1958 and 1976 He has also gone to the moon, by stealing Pat's home-made rocket, and to the afterlife (both heaven and hell), via various methods including some of the aforementioned shooting incidents and vomiting into an electrical outlet. He has also produced his very own zine, titled Man Why You Even Got To Do A Thing. A zine (an abbreviation of the word Fanzine, or magazine ziːn "zeen" is most commonly a small circulation non-commercial Publication

Roast Beef has written a number of poems, both in the strip and on his blog. A recurrent theme involves concealed weapons disguised as foodstuffs, and these normally conclude with a (presumably screamed) 'OHHH SHIIIT!'. Poems not utilizing the theme of weapons concealed in food do not correlate with the above exclamation, indicating that Roast Beef has a distinct fear of the hidden weapons.

According to Onstad, Roast Beef is one of several important foils to the increasingly central character of Ray. A foil is a character that contrasts with another character usually the protagonist and so highlights various facets of the main character's personality Ray's consistent optimism, sexual bravado, unwavering confidence, privileged upbringing, simple attitudes, and good luck makes him seem on the surface a complete antithesis of character to Roast Beef. Regardless, the two have been close friends since childhood, and it may be observed that as the strip progresses, each occasionally adopts the attitudes and perspectives of the other. The two do, of course, have a few points of dissent: Roast Beef is somewhat more sympathetic to Little Nephew than his Uncle Ray, and has taken issue with Ray's alcoholism.

Philippe

Philippe's Blog

Philippe is an undyingly optimistic and naïve young otter who resides in the house with Cornelius Bear, Lyle and Téodor, as well as Chris and Chris's family. His housemates collectively raise him with varied success, with Téodor acting as a nurturing motherly-type, Lyle as a neglectful big brother, and Mr. Bear as a stern but gentle father. He is separated from his mother, who lives in Ohio, but they talk on the phone frequently and have a close relationship. (At the time the Achewood cookbook came out, she was in Iowa. The State of Iowa ( is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States of America. ) Philippe's father is deceased. From time to time Philippe's mother sends him unusual presents.

Five year-old Philippe has made friends with a french fry, mistakenly thought he impregnated Cornelius's prized petunia and married "her", cheated on his flower wife with Ultra Peanut (a Chinese otter), had a frightening encounter with a serial killer (Nice Pete), been possessed by the soul of Billy Idol, run for president, and accidentally killed a robot. Billy Idol (born William Michael Albert Broad, 30 November 1955, Stanmore, Middlesex) is an English rock Phillipe became a 'father' to a bird named Franky. His birthday is on August 22nd.

Philippe enjoys hugs and is very gullible. Philippe has the strange talent of easily coming up with polyglot palindromes, phrases that are English in one direction and another language when reversed.

He also has a bad habit of building up his expectation of presents he will receive, and often becomes disappointed when he opens them.

Phillipe seems to be perpetually five years old, and celebrates his fifth birthday every year. Far into the future, Phillipe will still be the same age, even after some of the other characters have grown old and died. Like most of the occurrences which happen in the strip, this is not explained.

A song by the synth-pop band Freezepop titled "Here Comes a Special Boy" about the character of Philippe can be downloaded from Freezepop's website. Freezepop is an indie New Wave / Synthpop band composed of Liz Enthusiasm, the Duke of Pannekoeken (originally the Duke of Candied Apples [14] Additionally, the Song Fight! entries for "What We Need More Of Is Science" by Brody and Octothorpe are two different versions of the same song about Philippe. Song Fight! is a weekly online songwriting and recording competition in which amateur artists are openly invited to participate [[15]]

Cornelius Bear

Cornelius's Blog

Often referred to as Mr. Bear (and "Connie" by Ray), he is a scholarly and fatherly figure to much of the cast, being much older than most of them - he was married to his first (now deceased) wife, Iris Gambol, sometime before 1967. [16] He is unafraid to enjoy a good drink, and tends to be more erudite and romantic than the rest of the cast. It has also been implied that he has been imprisoned, and has had German, French and Austrian cellmates[17][18].

Mr. Bear is also the author of several children's books including So Many Whales, The Mayor of Banana Town, the "Oscar" series (including Oscar, Whose Pants Grew Too Small), and — during a somewhat later and darker period — Janet, The Girlfriend Who Could Only Ever Complain and Chug-A-Lug, The Train Who Drank. An author is defined both as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created Children's literature is an age category of literature written for published for or marketed to Children roughly through age 12 He wears pince-nez and is most often attired in an elegant dressing gown. Pince-nez (ˈpænsneɪ /ˈpɪnsneɪ/ or as French pɛ̃sˈne are a style of Spectacles, popular in the nineteenth century which are supported without earpieces by pinching [19] Although originally from Cambridge [20] he now lives at 62 Achewood Ct. The city of Cambridge (ˈkeɪmbrɪdʒ is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England In 2004, he was shot by Pat, but survived. Mr. Bear has been seen driving an Austin Mini with the driver's seat on the right-hand side, indicating it was originally sold in Britain. The Mini is a small car that was produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC and its successors from 1959 until 2000 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located He also owned (and presumably played) a French horn, though Ray wound up stepping on it by mistake. [21]

Mr. Bear seems to command respect from nearly every member of the cast — with the noteworthy exception of the brash and petulant Lyle. This can be seen in almost every strip in which they both appear. [22][23] [24] [25] He also won "The Badass Games," a manliness contest held by Ray and Roast Beef, a rather surprising achievement considering his gentle nature. [26]

Despite a reputation for class, Mr. Bear seems to have low standards when it comes to employment. At various times, he has been a writer of genre romance novels[27], a closed captioner for the Spice Channel [28], and a paid lecturer for Mensa International[29]. A romance novel is a literary Genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries Mensa is the largest oldest and most famous high-IQ society in the world More recently Cornelius has become the proprietor of an English pub, a joint venture between himself and Ray. The naming of said pub has been the subject of much deliberation between the two characters although at the time of writing it was designated "The Dude and Catastrophe" [30].

Lyle Roscoe Gabriel

Lyle's Blog

A belligerent stuffed tiger who enjoys playing pranks on his friends and takes his alcohol early and often. He is a talented calligrapher and cosmetician [31] [32], and apparently knows something about cars. Cosmetology (from Greek grc κοσμητικός kosmētikos, "skilled in adornment" and grc -λογία -logia) is the study Lyle has a mysterious, possibly criminal, possibly tragic past. For a time he also was employed helping recent Male to Female transsexuals "become sexually active and confident in their new bodies" [33]. Transsexualism is a condition in which a person identifies with a physical Sex different from the one with which they were born He has also become involved in pornography. Pornography or porn is the explicit depiction of Sexual subject matter with the sole intention of sexually exciting the viewer He recently returned from Scotland where he meant to learn how to make scotch, but instead became trapped at a finishing school. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. This article is about finishing school for the reality show see Charm School (TV series He lives at 62 Achewood Court. He's also often seen wearing a Misfits T-shirt. The Misfits are an American Lyle is also, due to a combination of an illegal u-turn and some word salad, a Registered Asshole in the State of California, complete with card and legal obligation to inform all neighbors within a five-block radius of his new status.

He is an extremely heavy drinker, who often vomits around the house after drinking, sometimes deliberately. [34]. In the Achewood cookbook, Lyle says that has held every kind of kitchen job, "from dishwasher to sous" (meaning sous chef). A chef is a person who cooks professionally In a professional kitchen setting the term is used only for the one person in charge of everyone else in the kitchen the executive Lyle is close friends with Todd T. Squirrel.

Téodor Orezscu

Téodor's Blog

Téodor is a teddy bear, as evidenced by his portrait. He and his family originate from Minsk, Belarus (his father was an actuary) and is apparently of Jewish descent. Belarus ( Belarusian Беларусь / Biełaruś is a Landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east An actuary is a business professional who deals with the financial impact of risk and uncertainty He is a skilled cook, musician and graphic designer, and is also an all around friendly guy. The term graphic design can refer to a number of artistic and professional disciplines which focus on visual communication and presentation He was originally quite crazy and uninhibited, exhibiting nudist tendencies [35][36] in early Achewood strips, though he seems to have calmed down a bit over the years. Naturism or nudism is a cultural and Political movement advocating and defending social Nudity in private and in public. These days he's probably the most "normal" out of the entire Achewood cast, though he is definitely not without quirks of his own (such as his passion for risotto). Risotto is a rich and creamy traditional Italian rice dish It is one of the most common ways of Cooking rice in Italy. While talented and intelligent, Téodor is also portrayed as lacking motivation and direction. A large exception to this is the considerable amount of time he is shown exercising or cooking, of which he is especially fond (every Achewood character has at least a slight interest in cooking, but Téodor's talent in this area is the most proficient). He had an online relationship with a girl named Penny, but it is not shown how the relationship ended up. Internet friendships are Friendships between people who have met Online, and in some cases know each other only via the Internet. While the other stuffed animals of the house treat Phillipe as a roommate, Téodor instead fills the role of Phillipe's guardian while the young otter is separated from his mother; he goes as far as to buy numerous child-care books. He has appeared in numerous strips recreationally using marijuana and seems to also be a user of psychedelic mushrooms. Téodor's birthday is in early October. Lie Bot predicted his death to be on April 28, 2005. Events 1192 - Assassination of Conrad of Montferrat (Conrad I King of Jerusalem, in Tyre, two days after his title Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. As it happens, Téodor did die on April 28 [37], after he choked on a Grolsch bottle cap whilst watching a pornographic film. Koninklijke Grolsch NV, known simply as Grolsch, is a Dutch Brewery founded in 1615 by Willem Neerfeldt in Groenlo. However, Lyle performed a "Longshoreman's Heimlich" (swift kick to the gut), which dislodged the cap and revived him. Choking is the mechanical obstruction of the flow of air from the environment into the lungs Téodor listens to The Cure, Joy Division, and The Smiths ("The Smiiiiiiiiiiiths. The Cure are an English rock band that formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976 Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982 . . ").

Pat Reynolds

Pat's Blog

Pat is one of the three original cat characters, along with Roast Beef and Ray. Over the years, his role has receded into the background, but his is still a formidable presence. He is a generally unpleasant character — he typically plays the antagonist — and seems to hate anyone that does not live up to his impossibly high standards of behavior. He seems to suffer from Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder and has some anger management problems, for which he attends a support group. Anger Management is a 2003 Comedy film which starred Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson, was directed by Peter Segal Raymond's mother revealed that Pat also suffers from Crohn's disease, though this could be attributed to some slight senility of hers. Crohn's disease is a Disease of the Digestive system which may affect any part of the Gastrointestinal tract from Mouth to Anus

Pat's interests in veganism, Zen Buddhism and his unusual stances on various social issues seem to be driven less by an appreciation of the philosophies, but more by a desire to feel superior to his friends, and indeed the rest of the world. Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism, referred to in Chinese as Chan. He will often boycott companies at the slightest perceived provocation; for example, he claims to have stopped buying Kleenex brand tissues after he accidentally pulled three tissues out of a box instead of one, and stopped shopping at Whole Foods because of disgust with a female employee's visible armpit hair. Kleenex is a Brand name for a variety of products such as Facial tissue, Bathroom tissue, Paper towels, and Diapers. Whole Foods Market ( is an Austin, Texas -based foods Grocer. His elitist, negative attitude extends to a particular focus on barbers and hairstylists, as well as toll booth operators, Mexican motorists [38], and employees with disabilities [39].

Pat constructed the rocket that Roast Beef stole and rode to the Moon. He is on the run after escaping from jail (he was convicted for shooting Roast Beef, and later shot Mr. Bear as well, probably by accident [40]), but it doesn't seem to have affected his lifestyle due to Ray's connections getting him off the hook. He lives quite comfortably on the lam with "Nice Pete," a serial killer he met in jail. Interestingly, given recent speculation about Pat's sexuality, Nice Pete also attends his support group, implying that the two are quite close. He drives a Ford Mustang II, and his favorite movie is Memento. The Ford Mustang sports coupe, manufactured by the Ford Motor Company, was initially based on the Ford Falcon Memento is a Psychological thriller Film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, adapted from his brother Jonathan 's short After being electrocuted due to a prank by Lyle and Philippe, he temporarily became much nicer [41].

Pat disowned his entertainer father, Simon Reynolds, when the latter declared he was a homosexual [42]. Simon has made efforts to reconcile with his son, which Pat has disgustedly repulsed [43]. The entire topic of his father is off limits to Pat, suggesting repression issues. The comic has hinted at this complexity of his character for some time (e. g. [44]). Recently, his latent homosexuality was forced out into the open with the discovery of a magical Mexican camera [45] that depicts a person as how they feel about themselves, rather than an actual photo of the person. Both Pat and his father are homosexual due to the curse of Gladdington castle [46], wherein an ancestor of theirs was cursed such that all of his sons and their sons thereafter would become homosexual at the age of 26.

Molly Sanders

[9] A cat, and Roast Beef's fiancée. Molly was born in seventeenth-century Wales. She died in the wreck of the Gwynqeathe in 1676 and went to Heaven, where she was able to keep up on developments in the living world and became interested in modern technology. Heaven may refer to the physical heavens the sky or the seemingly endless expanse of the Universe beyond [47] Roast Beef first met her in Heaven after he was shot by Pat. Molly now resides on Earth, living in the pool shed with Roast Beef. Roast Beef's lack of social skills often means their relationship is strained, but Molly's extraordinary patience and tolerance (and Beef's willingness to go along with her sexual adventurousness) often win out. Molly may have been a programmer while in Heaven (presumably self-taught), but since she died long before computers and coding were invented she has no "earthly" qualifications as such. A programmer is someone who writes Computer software. The term computer programmer can refer to a specialist in one area of computer programming or to a generalist She has been currently working in the service industry since coming back to life; she has implied in her blog that she is unable to get better work because she does not have a social security card [48]. This is perhaps because she is legally dead. She has held jobs at various bars and restaurants, including Applebee's, Taco Bell (from which she was fired), and The Smoke (a local bar in the underground). Applebee’s International Inc is a United States company which develops franchises and operates the Applebee's Neighborhood Grill and Bar restaurant chain Taco Bell Corp, a subsidiary of Yum! Brands Inc, is a restaurant chain based in Irvine California specializing in Tex-Mex -inspired For a time, Molly worked at an "upscale tex-mex place" called Butte, until a fire forced its closure. Molly was involved in sandwich porn for Vlad when she worked at his Subway restaurant. A sandwich is a food item made of two or more slices of Bread with one or more layers of a filling Pornography or porn is the explicit depiction of Sexual subject matter with the sole intention of sexually exciting the viewer Molly has now secured a job at Starbucks which she claims makes her "the hub of Achewood's social universe. Starbucks Corporation ( is an international Coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle Washington. " She has been running the "Achewood A-List" off and on since December 2005 (officially named on December 19, 2005 [49]). Events 324 - Licinius abdicates his position as Roman Emperor. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. On June 7, 2007, Roast Beef asked Molly to marry him [50]. Events 1099 - The First Crusade: The Siege of Jerusalem begins Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.

Early development of the series

In the early months of Achewood, the strip takes place entirely at Chris Onstad's house, and the four original characters -- Philippe, Téodor, Lyle and Cornelius Bear -- are implied to be essentially trapped there. Philippe's appearance at the front door causes some Trick-or-Treaters to exclaim in fear, "Holy Christ, that is an alive stuffed animal," and the friends are forced to hide when the pizza they ordered is delivered. There is no mention of having jobs, money or any real responsibilities. After Ray, Roast Beef and Pat are introduced, however, the characters begin to assume more complex personalities and exercise greater independence. This trend is accelerated during an extended story arc called "The Party", the first of the long-form storylines which would become a staple of Achewood. The transition from what had essentially been a gag-a-day comic was fairly abrupt – there is no run-up to "The Party. " Instead, on March 12, 2002 all of the characters are shown lined up outside the Onstad residence waiting for Téodor to let them in and the comic concluded with the note “continued tomorrow. Events 538 - Witiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ” "The Party" introduces several supporting characters, including robots, Ultra Peanut and Phillipe's mother.

Subsequent chapters establish more clearly defined relationships between the characters "Ray+Beef Road Trip", add additional depth to their personalities "Ray Sells His Soul" and follow the main players through major life events "The Great Outdoor Fight".

Originally, Ray and Roast Beef were background characters, part of a trio of cats (along with Pat) who always appeared together and fancied themselves "the dirtiest dudes in town" due to their skill at vulgar insults. As time went on, Ray and Beef were given more and more panel time, eventually becoming the central characters of the strip, with the original four main characters taking on supporting roles.

Other features

Chris Onstad produces other material within the Achewood 'universe', including:

Critical reaction

Achewood has been nominated for multiple Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards:

Achewood received the 2007 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Online Comic. The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards ( WCCA) are annual awards in which online Cartoonists nominate and select outstanding Webcomics The awards have been The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards is an award voted on by web cartoonists The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards is an award voted on by web cartoonists The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards is an award voted on by web cartoonists The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards is an award voted on by web cartoonists The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards is an award voted on by web cartoonists The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards is an award voted on by web cartoonists The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards is an award voted on by web cartoonists The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards is an award voted on by web cartoonists The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards is an award voted on by web cartoonists The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards is an annual award voted on by web cartoonists themselves The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards is an award voted on by web cartoonists The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards is an award voted on by web cartoonists The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards is an award voted on by web cartoonists The Ignatz Awards are intended to recognize outstanding achievements in Comics and cartooning by small press creators or creator-owned projects published by larger

Time magazine's Lev Grossman named it Number One of the Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2007, ranking it at #1, praising its emotional range, the lyrical beauty of its otherwise at-times crude art, and referred to the series as "brilliant" and “profoundly genius”. Time (trademarked in capitals as TIME) is a weekly American Newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and Grossman explained that it deserved to be listed, despite the fact that it was technically an Internet comic rather than a traditional hardcopy or even a graphic novel at all. A [15]

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ Compare a Google Map of the area with a map given in a strip.
  2. ^ http://mb.sparknotes.com/sparktalk.epl?t=307703
  3. ^ Perigar, Mark A. (August 13, 2004, 2004). August 2004: January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " "Checker-ed Past; Publisher keeps vintage, beloved works in print". The Boston Herald. The Boston Herald is a Tabloid -format Daily newspaper, the smaller of the two big dailies in Boston Massachusetts, United States THE EDGE; Pg. e35
  4. ^ The 8 Funniest Webcomics. cracked. com. Retrieved on 2007-11-30. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1700 - Battle of Narva — A Swedish army of 8500 men under Charles XII defeats
  5. ^ Achewood - Moonshine Neuroretarder
  6. ^ Achewood - October 10, 2003
  7. ^ "June 27, 2007. " Achewood
  8. ^ "January 14, 2002," Achewood
  9. ^ Molly's Blog
  10. ^ http://twitter.com/achewood
  11. ^ 2004 Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards. Retrieved on 2008-03-30. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 240 BC - 1st recorded Perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
  12. ^ 2005 Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards. Retrieved on 2008-03-30. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 240 BC - 1st recorded Perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
  13. ^ 2006 Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards Online Ceremony. Retrieved on 2008-03-30. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 240 BC - 1st recorded Perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
  14. ^ 2008 Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards (2008-03-08). 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1618 - Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion. Retrieved on 2008-03-30. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 240 BC - 1st recorded Perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
  15. ^ Grossman, Lev; Top 10 Graphic Novels; time.com

External links

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