The Whiteboard
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| The Whiteboard | |
|---|---|
 Cover of The Whiteboard book 1, Digitally Remastered. |
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| Author(s) | Doc Nickel |
| Website | http://www.the-whiteboard.com/ |
| Current status | Updates Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays |
| Launch date | July 18, 2002 |
The Whiteboard is a paintball webcomic created by "Doc" Nickel, an Alaskan airsmith. It has been collected into two print books to date; "The Whiteboard: Digitally Remastered" (2005) [ISBN: 1-59971-219-9] and "The Whiteboard: Untapped Potential" (2006). A special full-page color The Whiteboard was also featured in Paintball Games International magazines' special "What Paintball Gear?" issue in 2003[1]. In 2004, the Russian magazine пейнтбол (Paintball) printed [2]. several translated versions of early TWB strips.
The first strip was created on July 18, 2002, using a dry-erase board:
I'd just installed the board in the shop, and on a whim I scribbled up this comic, snapped a pic and posted it in the forum. The forum regulars liked it, so I drew a couple more and posted those as well. -Doc Nickel
The difficulty in photographing the shiny whiteboard surface, and the limitations of the single-panel format led to the change to a more conventional pen-and-ink three panel layout. The strip was originally based on personal anecdotes collected while running a paintball shop, but it has evolved into a comic with many unique characters and storylines receiving 168,000[3] unique visitors a month.
TWB was never intended to be a furry strip. Besides the fact it wasn't intended to be a regular feature in the first place, polar bear was chosen simply as a clearly-Alaskan icon, and as a stereotypically bad-tempered, grumpy sort. I mean, would you want to tell a grumpy bear that you broke your marker and need it fixed by Friday? When I started thinking about a regular-feature strip, I started planning the usual fish out of water gags; customers surprised at a bear working the counter, calling Fish & Game who would come and tranquilize him and try to transplant him back to the arctic, yadda yadda. I thought those jokes were too clichéd, however, and wanted to focus on the shop/customer jokes, which is why I drew the original comic in the first place. -Doc Nickel
Contents |
[edit] Characters
- Doc is a Polar Bear (Ursus Maritimus). Originally intended as an avatar of the author, Doc has evolved into a unique character. As such, he's the boss. The big bruin. The head honcho. King of the ice floe. Owns and operates an as-yet unnamed paintball store, basically just as a dodge to get to play with wild toys and build cool gadgets. Has an affinity for Mountain Dew, big wooden mallets and Autocockers. Can hear a leaky 4-way or maladjusted ram snap-ring at forty meters, and carries around vertical mills like other people carry a Leatherman.
- Roger is a Raccoon (Procyon Lotor). He's a computer geek, programmer and electronic transmogrifier. Often the voice of reason when new projects are contemplated, but occasionally the one wondering aloud where they can get some Thorium and a couple particle accelerators. Has been known to troubleshoot electropneumatic software over the phone, on the field, and under fire.
- Swamp Fox (Swampy) is a subspecies of Red Fox local to the Kenai Peninsula (Vulpes vulpes kenaiensis). He's your typical laid-back rec player. Swampy is good but not great, and thinks an automag is plenty "high tech" for him. A regular hangout at the shop and frequent bystander when a new gadget gets tested, he's usually the first one to call the fire department. Doesn't mind helping sweep up the debris.
- Bandit is a Ferret (Mustela furo). Skinny and fast, he's out on the field just for fun. Plays pump and stock, even in tournaments, and can't understand why somebody might need five 9-volts and a thousand paintballs for a single game. Can hide behind small twigs and uses Sup'Air inflation tubes like other players use the "snake". Owns only one marker, and knows how to use it.
- Snowshoe (Shoey or Shoe) is a Canadian Lynx (Lynx canadensis). More of a tourney player, Shoe prefers the fast-paced, paint-flyin' games. He's usually got the newest marker he can afford, but often has to be dissuaded from buying the latest overhyped gadget or trading the old one in 'cause new ones are nickeled. Between game days, he can usually be found at the Shop watching paintball videos or flipping through the latest flyers and catalogs.
- Jinx is an Arctic Fox (Alopex lagopus). Jimmy's the new kid in town, and new to the sport as well. Strangely enough, not everyone thinks that exposure to the regular Crew is necessarily a 'bad' thing. That remains to be seen.
- Rainman (Daniel, never Bunny) is a Snowshoe Hare (Lepus americanus). Semiserious tourney wannabe, though he spends more time practicing his 'trash talk' than his snapshots. A decent player, but worries more about appearing a professional player than actually being a pro. Yes, he knows he has a famous profile.
- Red is a subspecies of Red Fox local to Alaska and northern Canada (Vulpes vulpes alascensis). He owns the local Paintball Field, and runs it with the help of the Crew and various volunteers. Genuinely wants the customers to have fun, but won't put up with kids who want to "bend" the rules or can't learn to play safely.
- Jake is a Striped Skunk (Mephitis mephitis). He's laid back and easygoing... at least 'til he gets on the field, where he's confident and aggressive. Few players will risk bunkering him after seeing what happened when Bandit got the drop on him during a woodsball game.
- Bruno is a Brown Bear (Ursus arctos). Bruno's a bit older than the usual crowd, a little slower and not able to tuck or hide quite as well... But he makes it up in spades by being a devious, methodical and downright sneaky bastard. A fan of old pumps, he sometimes uses a semiauto just so he's not quite as sore in the morning.
- Sandy is a Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes). She's the new office girl. Starting out as an accidental hire after a party, she managed to put Doc's paperwork in some semblance of order, which came as a surprise to everyone since even disaster-recovery specialists said that would require heavy machinery, high explosives and UN approval. Knew absolutely nothing about the sport when she first arrived, but she's learning.
- Tawny is a Bobcat (Lynx rufus). She's Snowshoe's girlfriend. Shoey won't admit it, but if she wasn't keeping his gear cleaned and fixed, he'd never make it to the starting gate in time. He also won't admit she's a better player, and she'll let him win.
- Pirta (PJ) is a Snow leopard (Uncia uncia). She's a waitress at the Chinese-takeout place down the street. Pirta only knew of the shop antics from what the EMTs and firemen told her when they'd come in after another call. That is, until she found out an old friend worked there...
[edit] Making Of
The author has a humorous look at how a typical strip is created on his site
[edit] Cameos
Characters from and references to The Whiteboard have been featured in the following strips by other authors:
- November 2, 2004 in Weak-End Warriors.
- Jan 17, 2005 in Freefall.
- April 22, 2005 in Register One.
- October 20, 2005] in Schlock Mercenary.
- September 4, 2006 in The KAMics.
The Whiteboard has itself done cameos of characters from over a hundred other webcomics, usually during the yearly Halloween parties.
[edit] Critical Reaction
Howard Tayler, author of Schlock Mercenary, wrote of The Whiteboard: "If you’re not already reading The Whiteboard as part of your daily trawl, I hope it’s not because you think the comic is only funny to paintballers. I’ve only paintballed once (an experience I found miserable) and the comic is one of my favorites."[4]
[edit] References
- ^ Paintball Games International's "What Paintball Gear" Annual 2003, pg. 194
- ^ "пейнтбол" Summer 2004 issue, pg. 48
- ^ TWB eXTReMe Tracking Site. http://extremetracking.com/open?login=thetwb
- ^ Tayler, Howard (August 16, 2006). "This run of The Whiteboard needs your attention". http://www.schlockmercenary.com/blog/index.php/2006/08/16/this-run-of-the-whiteboard-needs-your-attention/
