Road Waffles
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| Road Waffles | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Eight |
| Website | http://roadwaffles.com/ |
| Launch date | November 8, 1999 |
Road Waffles is a webcomic started in November 1999 by Eight, which ended but was followed by a sequel beginning in April 2003.
Contents |
[edit] Summary
The first incarnation of Road Waffles concerned the surrealistic convertible-borne adventures of a group of travellers, the main characters being Haley, a young blonde woman in her early to mid twenties, and a thirtyish bearded man in a cowboy hat, named Bruno. As they speed down the highway, they encounter other notable and memorable characters such as merv, Elegeia, and Tash. Most of their journey centers on a long-term goal of getting to some far-off destination, but as they get sucked into the plot it becomes apparent that there's some heavy sci-fi shit going on and their very universe hangs in the balance. A later, completely unrelated subplot introducing Sean, Marsh, and Claire takes place alongside the regular strip towards the end.
The sequel, slightly more surreal and less grounded in a logical continuity, appears to center around numerous characters, most notably Moses J. Leviticus a self-described "Gonzo Journalist", and Marlie Kincade, a mysterious vampire girl and mental hospital escapee. A lot of the comic deals with flashbacks of Marlie's past, where she interacts with Max Panic and later discovers an age-old rivalry with Deuse. After some failed reality-experiments, Moses later becomes more involved with Romy, an eccentric yet sensual girl genius who helps him with some serious problems involving aliens trying to take over the universe. Halley Windstar, not to be mistaken with Haley from the first Road Waffles, and Engina, two interstellar bounty hunters, take on major roles in the later part of the sequel in order to battle the multiversal threat continued from the first series.
The third installment begins simply enough with Jen Leahy interacting with the omnipotent Narrator, effectively shattering the fourth wall in the process. The Narrator explains that Jen is an incarnation of Haley from the first comic and creates a car and a road on her request, and tells her to "Go make some friends." The Narrator tells Jen the rules, which are 1. anyone can die and no one comes back, and 2. the laws of physics can be bent if not outright broken. Jen is granted wings by the Narrator and then sent off on an adventure.
[edit] RW3 synopsis
Jen flies off and follows the road to a gas station in a town called Ecksford where she stops to get food and use the bathroom. She meets the character Nicotina Toksikov, who at first believes she's an angel. An escaped pyromaniac lights the gas station on fire, and Jen promptly rescues Nicotina from the explosion. They set off to a diner and then her house, avoiding suspicion by pretending that Jen's wings are part of a costume. Nicotina's house explodes the minute they leave the diner. Jen and Nicotina search the apartment for surviving people and intact belongings before deciding to leave town by hitching a ride on a train. When they decide to leave the train, Nicotina buys a coat for Jen to hide her large, conspicuous wings.
Nicotina heads off to a strip club to earn money, and causes two elderly men to have heart attacks and Jen and Nicotina are told not to leave town by an official. Jen and Nicotina get back on the train at night and leave anyway. At the next stop, they rest at a lake while a woman with a bass guitar (Dayna Rodeo) gets hit by a car. She beats the driver to a bloody pulp and walks away. A storm starts and Nicotina and Jen decide to hitchhike instead of taking the train. They catch a ride with two men in a car shaped like a giant ass. When they stop off at the nearest town, they find a man breakdancing. He leads them to a motel-turned-shelter, where they decide to stay. The Ecksford police come across Dayna and offer her a ride to town. The sheriff and the other officer discuss the pattern of death and arson linked to Nicotina during her constant travelling.
While Nicotina's at the motel, she spots the Ecksford police while on the roof. Also, Jen's wings are discovered by the one of the other inhabitants of the shelter and she decides to show the rest of them. Meanwhile, the Ecksford sheriff hires Dayna Rodeo to find Nicotina and lure her to the police. She checks into the motel/shelter that Jen and Nicotina are staying at and find them as Jen is dragging an extremely high Nicotina to her room.
A mysterious woman with a sword hires Owen, a boy who frequents the motel, to capture Jen. When he finds Jen walking in the street, he punches her, but she escapes by flying away and Owen is killed for his failure.
[edit] The Name
Road Waffles does not refer to the characters in any way, shape or form, but neither is it a word salad. Instead, it refers to small roadkill, which presumably looks somewhat waffled after being flattened by a tire.
