Beaver and Steve
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| Beaver and Steve | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | James Turner |
| Website | http://www.beaverandsteve.com |
| Update schedule | Updates Tuesdays and Fridays |
| Launch date | 2004 |
| Genre | Story/Humour |
Beaver and Steve (also known as The Unfeasible Adventures of Beaver and Steve) is a popular webcomic by James Turner. The comic, which debuted on September 10, 2004 and has continued since on a semi-weekly basis, chronicles the bizarre and humorous escapades of Steve, a green reptilian creature, and the aptly-named Beaver.
Contents |
[edit] Style
The Comic is light-hearted in its tone, favouring short, self-contained storylines with minimal continuity. The brightly coloured artwork and loose drawing style is a reflection upon this whimsical nature. The humour (each comic ends on a joke) is often of a visual form. Also frequent is humour derived from the juxtaposition of the absurd goings-on in Beaver and Steve's world (often caused by Steve), with the down-to-earth reactions of the characters (often Beaver).
A mainstay of the strip is the use of Onomatopoeias, "sounds" made in the world of the comic. Though it is common for comics to contain some sound effects (such as the BEEP! of a car horn) this concept is far extended in the unfeasible adventures of Beaver and Steve. Many actions have their own "sound effect" including "INDIFFERENCE!" (from Emotibot) and "CAKEY AROMA! (from, unsurprisingly, a cake).
[edit] Guest Comics
The Beaver and Steve archives contain a number of guest comics, from artists such as Ali Graham. Such artists have used the characters in markedly different ways than James Turner. For example, KC Green's guest comic, contrasts greatly with the strip's usual style.
[edit] Major characters
[edit] Beaver
Beaver is the more rational and pragmatic of the pair. He is often the victim of Steve’s practical jokes and is sometimes annoyed by the unfeasibility that Steve seems to generate. Because he is more level-headed and responsible than Steve, he sometimes acts as an almost parental figure. For example, Beaver has been known to cook dinner for Steve, forbid Steve from playing with ninjas, and make Steve clean up piles of rotten meat on the floor.
While he is usually a loyal and caring friend, there appears to be a darker side to Beaver’s personality. He apparently had no qualms about allowing Steve to be beaten up by a gang of fellow beavers at the zoo, and then accepting Steve’s stolen wallet. Beaver’s grief after Steve’s recent death was only transitory, and he quickly replaced him with a new friend, Stu.
[edit] Steve
Steve, whose exact species is unknown (though it has been speculated that he may be a dinosaur, lizard or perhaps something to do with the classic arcade game Bubble Bobble) is the co-protagonist of the strip. Steve possesses superior technical expertise, and has been known to create robots, time machines, and other advanced technological devices. However, Steve’s inventions rarely function as planned, often leading to disastrous results.
Steve is much more spontaneous than his companion, Beaver, and is the source of much of the “unfeasibility” in their adventures. Somehow, Steve’s mere presence attracts strange creatures such as sentient turnips, the Shoe Goblin, Satan, and various fairies.
Steve is generally friendly and well-meaning, except to his arch-enemies.(Turnip, Shoe Goblin, the pandas, Rupert the cockroach, and Cyber-spook) His amiable and overly-optimistic nature often renders him oblivious to the sinister intentions of others. This naivety often leads to the unfeasible-ness of their adventures. Steve also, despite his vehement hatred of pandas, exhibits some panda-like qualities himself. I.e., from the story arc 'Panda-monium', he enjoys the cereal "Suger Frosted Bamboo Flakes",(It's also hinted that he eats many packets of it)and, also from story arc 'Panda-monium' he simply cannot resist the pleasing smell of Panda Paper.(Bamboo scented fly paper)
[edit] Minor characters
[edit] Emotibot
Emotibot, a robot created by Steve, is capable of feeling complex emotions. However, Emotibot doesn’t experience these emotions automatically; he (or a third party) must manually push a button on Emotibot’s control panel that corresponds to a certain emotion (though for unexplained reasons, these buttons seem to change completely on a strip-to-strip basis). Since Emotibot’s emotions are so easily changed, his behavior is highly erratic; he experiences frequent mood swings.
During Emotibot’s nascent period, he experienced a few glitches, sometimes blasting Beaver in the face with powerful death rays. In addition, Emotibot once produced baked goods such as toast and bagels, but this function has disappeared.
[edit] The Shoe Goblin
An old enemy of Beaver and Steve, the Shoe Goblin uses footwear to carry out his evil plans. His targets are usually bludgeoned by large shoes, a process he refers to as “shoeing.” The Shoe Goblin seems to be motivated by nothing else than pure hatred for Beaver and Steve (mostly Steve), as well as a love of shoes. Beaver and Steve are terrified of the Shoe Goblin, and he is sometimes the subject of Steve’s nightmares.
The Shoe Goblin’s obsession with shoes seems to run in the family; eons ago, his ancestors built a giant shoe and sealed it inside a shoe-themed temple.
Though a formidable foe, the Shoe Goblin does have a weakness: he was once defeated when Beaver subdued him with an enormous sock.
[edit] Rupert T. Roach
Rupert T. Roach, a sophisticated, verbose, and arrogant cockroach, is a megalomaniac bent on world domination. All hell broke loose when Steve inadvertently magnified Rupert to the size of a skyscraper. Although Rupert has been “squished” several times, he still keeps returning, intent on achieving his ambitious goals.
[edit] Pandas
Steve has had several encounters with pandas, and harbors an unexplained hatred for them. Steve’s disdain of pandas is not completely unfounded; the pandas appear to have sinister intentions, and have colluded with the Shoe Goblin at times. Also, in "Panda-monium", pandas act like parasites.
[edit] Ninjas
Beaver and Steve have, on occasion, encountered a band of three multi-colored ninjas. The ninjas originally attacked Beaver and Steve during a Scrabble game, but Steve has since befriended them and aspired to join their ranks.
[edit] Timmy the Turnip
Steve has had several unpleasant experiences involving this turnip. Complete with arms, legs, and face, Timmy will go to great lengths (including the use of chloroform) to be eaten by Steve. It all started when Steve met Timmy the Turnip, who purportedly was rich in vitamins and minerals. When Steve refused to eat him, Timmy subdued him and forced his way into Steve’s mouth.
[edit] Cyber-Spook
This terrifying ghost-cyborg hybrid is armed with a deadly weapon: a bucket full of red paint. However, despite his semi-ghostly nature, his eyes are vulnerable to small foreign objects, especially cookie crumbs.
Beaver and Steve once speculated on the origins of Cyber-Spook on Beaver and Steve Investigate. Steve argued that he was “a ghost, horribly injured in an accident,” while Beaver maintained that he was “the ghost of a cyborg returned from the grave…” Actually, he turned out to be the product of a happy marriage between his ghostly father and cyborg mother.
[edit] Steve’s “conscience”
Resembling a flying shrimp with a miniature pitchfork, Steve’s “conscience” has been known to give such advice as “Hey kid, why don’t you press those buttons. I bet something cool will happen” or “So kids, remember: bees are the enemy!” In Steve’s words: “You’re the best conscience ever!”
[edit] Recurring Themes
[edit] Steve and Toasters
Steve has, many times, run into problems with toasters. This seems to be the result of an unfeasible conspiracy against Steve; every time Steve attempts to make toast, something goes horribly wrong with the toaster. For example, various toasters have turned out to be fairies, Transformer-esque robots, or haunted.
Steve’s problems with toast date even further back than these toaster troubles: at one point, Steve attempted to butter his toast only to discover that the butter had become a foul-tasting, three-eyed being.
[edit] Steve opening locked doors
Steve, on many occasions, has opened doors that he has been told specifically not to open. In doing this he has, among other things, let out an all devouring many tentacled demon and released a goblin invasion force into fairy land.
[edit] Fairies
Magical fairies make regular appearances in Beaver and Steve. These have included the Meat Fairy (pictured), the Good Fairy of the East, toaster fairies, mine pixies, etc.
[edit] Removal of Body Parts
Various appendages and body parts are removed frequently in this comic. In one case, an awkward situation arose when Steve discovered a man’s disembodied nipples while bathing in a hot tub. In another, Beaver somehow obtained another (or possibly the same) man’s nose. Beaver once removed Steve’s pelvis and used it to escape from the Shoe Goblin’s clutches. More recently Steve lost his tail only for it to grow a new Steve which attempted to hack off the tail of the naive Beaver.
[edit] Steve’s Inner Demons
Steve sometimes struggles with his inner demons, in a very literal sense. Steve’s body has been occupied by actual demons who emerge every thousand years, a Lincoln-esque man in a top hat, and Loki, the Norse god of mischief.
[edit] Steve Doing What He Shouldn't
In many storylines Beaver warns Steve about certain things, almost guaranteeing that Steve will fail to follow Beaver's advice. On several occasions Steve is seen next to the results of his misbehaviour (eg broken vase, resurrected vampire, open portal to a hell dimension with a demon next to it) with an innocent look on his face.
[edit] Notable Storylines
[edit] Going to the Zoo Zoo Zoo
This story arc, involving Beaver and Steve’s unfeasible adventure at the zoo, features Steve’s first known experience with pandas, poisonous bears, and evil beavers. Steve’s experience at the zoo ends in disaster when he fails to follow Beaver’s advice: “Penguins belong in the zoo.”
[edit] Rupert Hits Town
When Rupert, enlarged as a result of exposure to microwave radiation, starts destroying large buildings, it’s up to Beaver and Steve to stop him. Their quest to find a shoe large enough to defeat the giant Rupert inevitably leads them to the Shoe Goblin, who has an evil agenda of his own…
[edit] Steve’s Unfeasible Afterlife Adventure
When Steve is tragically killed by Beaver’s flimsy anvil shelf, he must find his way through the netherworld. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like he’s going to the “good place…”
Meanwhile, Beaver befriends Stu, who bears uncanny similarities to Steve. Stu appears to be a better friend than Steve in every possible way, but appearances can be misleading…
[edit] Panda-monium
Steve wakes up one morning to find that a box of his favourite cereal, "Sugar Frosted Bamboo Flakes", is empty. The reason: Pandas have infested the house!
After rounding up all the pandas with "bamboo-scented panda strips", which Steve thinks smell "so good", he and Beaver discover the nest and find the panda queen, and while Beaver tries to talk to the queen, Steve attempts to rid of the infestation...
[edit] Beaver and Steve Go On Holiday
Despite intending to go to Australia, thanks to Steve's strange grasp of numbers, the duo end up going on a flight inside a giant pigeon to the extremely happy and cute Pixie Land.
It all turns a bit sour when, while on a museum trip, Steve ends up unleashing the Pixies' old foes, the Gremlins onto the peaceful land.
[edit] Beaver and Steve Wiki
The Official Beaver and Steve Wiki is the basis of the transcription engine (allowing searching of the comics). Alongside this, comics are translated into Finnish, French, Polish and Spanish in the wiki. Furthermore it also serves as an encyclopedia upon the comic, documenting its characters, storylines and onomatopoeias. Much of this article can be found within this wiki.
[edit] Awards and Recognition
[edit] Outstanding Newcomer Award
Beaver and Steve was awarded the title of “Best Newcomer” by the Web Cartoonists Choice Awards in 2005.
[edit] G4
In connection with the Best Newcomer award, Beaver and Steve was mentioned on Attack of the Show, airing on G4.
