As If!
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| As If! | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Amy Mebberson and Nikki Purvis |
| Website | http://www.mimisgrotto.com/asif |
| Update schedule | Completed |
| Launch date | April 16, 2001 |
| End Date | March 11, 2005 |
| Genre | Comedy, 1980s |
As If! is a webcomic about growing up in the 1980s, written by Nikki Purvis (also known as Jet Wolf) and drawn by Amy Mebberson (also known as Mimi). The comic's humor is primarily based on 80s pop-culture references and the universal high school maladies of crushes, dances, and peer pressure, among others.
Contents |
[edit] Plot synopsis
The comic begins with the meeting of Hunter and Angela, two very different teenage girls who quickly become friends through a mutual state of misfit-ness. Together they face the challenges of high school in the 1980s, along with Sandy, one of Hunter's old friends, and Tony and Peter, two boys who go to their high school.
[edit] About the Authors
The comic speculates what life would've been like had the authors, Mebberson and Purvis, gone to high school together instead of meeting over the Internet years later, as they did. Purvis officially left the comic on February 24, 2004, letting Mebberson fly solo with the project, but still hosts and frequents the comic's forums. The comic did not degrade appreciably in writing or art quality since the change.
[edit] Art Style
As If! is hand drawn and inked in a near-realistic anime style, and colored in grayscale using Photoshop. Mebberson, the artist, is a veteran of Sydney, Australia-based DisneyToon Studios, and has a background in animation. In the beginning, the comic was largely a four-panel, gag-a-day comic with loose continuity, but gradually shifted to longer, more involved storylines, and even expanded to full-page format for one particularly intense storyline.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Hunter
Purvis' personification. A cynical, private person known for her cutting edge sarcasm and a willingness to punctuate matters with her fist. She is the offspring of a free-spirited Londoner and a Texan, and bears a deep contempt for her father, who felt that any form of accelerated learning was just a waste of good beer money. Nonetheless, Hunter's mother nurtured her daughter's fertile imagination and curiosity about the world around her. Hunter is an insatiable bookworm and shares her mother's passion for writing, though she's very reluctant to show anyone her work. While she maintains a "Lone Wolf" image to everyone around her, at heart Hunter cares very deeply for her friends.
[edit] Angela Pierce
Mebberson's representation. A stark contrast to Hunter, Angela is a generally cheerful, enthusiastic person. She is also a very talented artist, an unorthodox cook (e.g. Dr Pepper S'mores), and the last remaining ray of light in Hunter's ever-diminishing hope for mankind. She is naturally shy, and prone to ridicule and peer pressure despite her best efforts to fit in with her age group. Angela is also a very talented singer, and loves performing on stage; she landed the lead role in her school's production of Archy and Mehitabel, a musical about a cockroach and a stray cat. At home, she is subject to constant belittlement by her younger sister, Rosie.
[edit] Sandy
Hunter's oldest friend, she and Sandy shared multitudes of common interests until junior high, when she had went through puberty. She ascended into the popular crowd, embracing makeup, hair, and trendy clothes while giving up almost everything she and Hunter once shared. That said, Sandy is still one of the few people who knows Hunter's inner thoughts best, and Hunter still finds herself confiding in her old friend from time to time. The bane of Sandy's existence is the constant attention of Tony di Angeles, her self-professed "Unholy Servant".
[edit] Peter Herndon
Peter is friends with Angela and is a longtime rival of Hunter. He enjoys video games and generally upbeat kid who enjoys teasing Hunter, despite the number of times he's been injured by her for it. It is later revealed that Peter holds a crush for Hunter that dates back to the second grade. His affections then manifested themselves in boyish teasing. Peter is hypoglycemic and allergic to peanuts.
[edit] Antony di Angeles
Peter's best friend, whose interests lie in cars, video games, girls, and most importantly, Sandy. Tony comes from a large Italian-American family, and his grandparents only speak Italian. He oftentimes plays the big brother role to Angela, who often comes to the boys for advice when Hunter and Sandy prove too much for her. He acquired this sensitivity at home, since he has his own little sister, Francesca.
[edit] Rosie Pierce
Angela's manipulative and terrorizing younger sister. At six years old, Rosie is a seasoned veteran of the child beauty pageant circuit, and constantly wishes she didn't have to share her parents' attention with her “uncool” older sister. Rosie chose her career in pageantry herself, and is unusually self-motivated.
[edit] Availability and Publishing Woes
As If! is available in its entirety on the official website. In 2004, after several self-published special issues, Mebberson signed with Afterburn Comics to publish As If! in book form. The contract was short-lived, however, and Afterburn released As If! from the contract because of unmet deadlines on their part. As If! ended its run on March 11, 2005, though bonus comics from the aborted book, including the previously print-only Issue 300 special, in which Hunter and Peter go on a date, were posted to the site afterward. Recently, Mebberson had made all the strips in .zip files.
[edit] External links
- Official Site
- The Heart of the Flames - Purvis' personal website.
