Diesel Sweeties

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Diesel Sweeties

Diesel Sweeties number 1.

Creator(s)	Richard Stevens III
Status	Running
Syndicate(s)	United Features Syndicate
Genre(s)	Humor
First strip	January 8, 2007

Diesel Sweeties is a comic strip written by Richard Stevens III (R Stevens). The comic began in 2000, 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 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. Although there is some character development and the occasional story arc, most strips are largely self-contained. Recurring themes include the annual Halloween strips, featuring characters from the comic in costume. The most distinctive aspect of the comic is the art style: the comic is made up entirely of large pixels (3x3 each), creating a clash between the content and the form.

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

The comic depicts a world where robots exist alongside humans, with human-robot romantic and sexual relationships commonplace.

In late 2006, Richard Stevens announced that "Diesel Sweeties" was picked up for newspaper syndication, through United Features Syndicate. The newspaper run will begin in January 8, 2007^[1].

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, Fetus-X, and The Perry Bible Fellowship.

1 Characters
2 References
3 External links

[edit] Characters

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

[edit] Main Characters

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. 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 Glee, an alcoholic ex-pornstar. Introduced as Clango's girlfriend, she has gone through a string of robots and boys since having been dumped. Introduced in strip #1.

Indie Rock Pete, a poseur obsessed with the idea of maintaining a facade of indie cred. Attempts to manipulate the other characters, but usually fails. Introduced in strip #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 #1241. Was once featured as Faye's sister's lesbian lover in Questionable Content (QC strip #171). Introduced in strip #5.

Electron Mike, an extreme technophile who listens to techno music and collects iPods. Introduced in strip #558.

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; 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 who went on a date with Clango, while he and Maura were "on a break". Currently going steady with Clango, but recently "blew [her] boyfriend up with an orbital laser." 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.

[edit] 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.

Charles, the token Canadian. Introduced in strip #63.

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.

John Stamos, Clango's black kitten. Although named after the male actor John Stamos, the kitten is a female. Introduced in strip #856.

Roger, Clango's orange cat. Introduced in strip #128.

Myspace Girl, 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. Introduced in strip #1477.

[edit] Minor Robot Characters

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), and has been dismantled and rebuilt at least once. Introduced in strip #670.