Super Frat

Hey bros!

Welcome to another “Behind the Scenes” look at Super Frat.  This current “Obama Intern” storyline is an important one for me.  The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, in case you’ve been asleep when reading my website, have me very frustrated.  I longed not only to express my frustration in some tangible form, but do something—  Anything, no matter how small, to help people wake up to the folly of these wars.

I started this storyline before Obama even got in office and even then I was saying, “Jeez, if I move Phil and Dave from Iraq to Afghanistan and the war ends, I’ll look sure look stupid!”  Sadly, it’s President Obama that looks stupid.  Doubling down in Afghanistan, otherwise know as the “Graveyard of Empires”.  Our timing on this strip is pretty dead on despite the wind up.  More soldiers are going to Afghanistan.   Are we ready to end this thing?  It just gets worse every day.  And if you think Obama is pulling out, you’re in for yet another disappointment.

I know, depressing.  This is supposed to be a stupid college comedy webcomic.  But college is about what’s going on in the world.  For a lot of people, it’s their intellectual peak.  After that, they get locked into a job and narrowly focused on their field.  And at the heart of every comedy bit is something very serious.  Without the weight of that seriousness, all you’ve got is people slapping each other in the face for no raisin— er, I mean reason.

So far, I’ve only talked one person out of joining the army. I feel pretty good about that, but I’d like to do more. I wrote this and this and even this. It just doesn’t seem enough though.

And you don’t just want to flail aimlessly, you want what you do to be pointed, effective. I guess that’s why I do these storylines in Super Frat, because I feel that’s my strength.

I also thought it was time to add a new bro to the frat house. One who was very different from the bros we’ve seen so far. That Dave went to war says a lot about him and in the coming days, the frat boys and their powers will be sorely tested. I really can’t wait. The story is pretty action-packed. I’ll give you one spoiler, the President is going to make an appearance. Why not? It’s only fair after what we did to Cheney. Plus Obama is a ratings grabber in the comics market.

Dave, as a personality, was inspired by those people you meet who are both crazy and completely contrary for no apparent reason. Dave inspires chaos wherever he goes for chaos sake. His immediate reaction to anything is usually the opposite of what you expect. He’s trouble, he knows it and he makes no apologies for it. And while I am annoyed by people like Dave, like everyone else, I also understand that need.

It’s not so much being contrary as this weird need not to conform with the “groupthink”. I’ve always sort of been like that on certain things. I refused to join most clubs when I was a kid. I just couldn’t stand the idea of belonging to a group. There was something inherently wrong with that and something inherently right with individualism. And sure, more often than not the group is either right or “right enough” that the individual suffers to some degree for not going along, but no one ever talks about the times that individual was right and everyone was wrong. You gotta respect that and I respect Dave, even if I never want to share a dorm room with him.

Ever.