Fans (webcomic)
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| Fans | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | T Campbell et al. |
| Website | http://www.faans.com/ |
| Current status / schedule | Monday-Wednesday-Friday |
| Launch date | 2000-01-01 |
| Genre(s) | College, Coming of age, Sci-fi, Fantasy, Adventure, Humor, Romance |
Fans (also known as Faans or Fans!) is a webcomic written by T Campbell, and drawn primarily in black-and-white by Jason Waltrip, though with numerous arcs illustrated by other artists in their own unique styles. It concerns the exploits of a group of science fiction and fantasy fans who become entangled in a series of adventures involving mad scientists, aliens, government conspiracies, time travel, and other exotic adversaries. The comic commenced life as a webcomic in 2000 and, after originally ending in 2005, has now resumed and updates three times a week.
Fans started its life as a printed comic in 1999, but was cancelled after only its first major storyline and a crossover with the Knights of the Dinner Table. On January 1, 2000, it was reinvented as a webcomic, first hosted in Keenspace, later in Keenspot, and finally in Graphic Smash. The strip’s original web run concluded on April 29, 2005. While attempting to write a Fans! story as a donation incentive for his later strip Penny & Aggie, Campbell realized he had too many ideas for one story, and, with the cooperation of Waltrip, decided to revive the series outright.[1] The first new strip appeared on Monday, February 18, 2008.
Contents |
[edit] Summary
The strip focusses on the members of the Science Fiction Club of the fictional Billberg University (loosely based on William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia), a fan club devoted to various forms of science fiction and fantasy entertainment (including thinly-veiled parodies of cult television shows such as Star Trek, The X Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and who engage in role-playing games, movie screenings and fan conventions. Whilst at a signing held by an actress who formerly starred in one of their favorite shows, they interfere in an attempt on her life by a pair of mind-controlled assassins. Investigating further, uncover a conspiracy to destroy fandom; when they successfully foil this plot, they attract the attention of the F.I.B, a sinister top secret agency that hunts, captures, and destroys monsters, mad scientists, and other ‘fictional’ threats. The F.I.B. at first view the Club as both pawns in their machinations and a potential threat. As the Club and the F.I.B. continue to clash, the members of the Club begin to investigate and assist in various battles against unusual adversaries (including aliens, vampires, time-travelling warlords and demons), establishing themselves as champions of both science fiction and, in a wider sense, the right of people everywhere to imagine and dream.
[edit] Characters
[edit] The Science Fiction Club
Present and past members of the club include:
- Rikk Oberf: The current president of the club, Rikk (full name Richard Abraham Oberf) started out as naive, innocent and shy (particularly with girls) but soon proved himself a wise leader, tactical genius and extraordinary inspirational speaker - exactly what the club needed in the several crises that faced it. His intense idealism is the beacon of the club’s values, but can often blind him to the failings and shortcomings of those around him and can lead to clashes with those who possess more pragmatic viewpoints on life and their adventures. Rikk is married to Alisin, and ultimately entered into a ménage à trois with Rumy. He now appears to be a general within the AEGIS organization, the successor of the FIB.
- Will Erixon: His military father’s constant physical and verbal abuse (and eventual murder of Will’s mother) during Will’s childhood had left Will with both a complete distrust of all things military and the terror that he might one day transform into his father, witnessed by his constant struggle to control his short temper. An actor with a deep love for role-play games, by the end of the strip he was in a happy and healthy relationship with Shanna Cochran.
- Katherine Smit: The former president of the club, Katherine decided to hand over leadership to Rikk, after she proved too prone to abusing her authority. After spending some time as secretary of the club, and being forced to kill a former friend and member of the club turned traitor, Katherine decided that it would be better for her if left the club in its entirety and devoted herself to her studies in Law. Although a flawed leader of the club, she often demonstrated a more practical and realistic perspective on people and situations than Rikk, which he often acknowledged.
- Rumiko Tanaka: A martial artist and manga artist, Rumy is shy, quiet, and usually slow to anger, but quite dangerous in combat. She learned martial arts from Master Kana, a parody of Ranma ½. She has a serious crush on Rikk, but channels her feelings into a desire to see him happy with Alisin, which has led to much tension and jealousy between the two. As she grew closer to Alisin, they eventually agreed to a ménage à trois.
- Tim Mitts: The group’s computer hacker, Tim is a fat, hairy, annoying, irreverent, but ultimately good-hearted and compassionate slob.
- Shanna Cochran: Owing to her mother’s insanity and father’s abandonment of her, Shanna - a journalist, and the self-described ‘normal’ member of the group - spent much of her life scared of anything that sent her emotions out of control, which put her in denial of her fannish tendencies and even her heterosexuality. Continued exposure to the Science Fiction Club has broken down her barriers, and she is now comfortable enough with herself to maintain a healthy relationship with Will and watch Lord of the Rings, whilst continuing to use sarcasm to keep her distance.
- Alisin Oberf (née Alison Worthington): Given a terminal disease at a young age, Alisin adopted a devil-may-care, hedonistic Goth persona that masked deep insecurities, a crippling lack of self-worth and a bleak, fatalistic outlook on life. Though she’s found love with Rikk and a cure for her condition, those deeper problems remain, and though she loves Rikk intensely she has often deeply hurt him in misguided efforts to push him away during dark moments in her life.
- Jacquelyn “Jackie” Thomas (aka Union Jackie): Upon first impressions Jackie, an aspiring actress and intense Anglophile with an affected British accent, appears boisterous and friendly. However, closer examination reveals a narcissistic and deep-seated need to be the centre of all attention, which has led her to mismanage both her career and her friendships, playing up her sexuality but seemingly taking little pleasure in doing so - as evidenced when, upon learning of a crush that Will had developed on her, she loudly and publicly denied having any romantic interest in him, only to pursue him intensely when it transpired that she had a rival for his affections in Shanna.
- Guthrie Carroll: An emotionally distant math geek with few real passions outside of mathematics, except his friendship with Tim and his love-hate relationship with his cousin Stu.
- Meighan McDowell: A proud economics major and attractive lesbian, Meighan’s often insensitive and motivated chiefly by sex and money. But she is capable of gratitude, and a couple of favors Tim has done her has solidified their friendship. She later enters into business with Tim and Guthrie.
- Harry Scott: The Club’s oldest member, Harry joined to complete his book collection for the sake of grandchildren’s inheritance. His life had spanned the entire development of American science fiction, but by the time he joined he was cranky and cynical, the idealism of his youth seemingly lost forever. But he rediscovered it - and went out like a hero - when the Club became embroiled in a time-spanning war.
- Timin Alamin (aka Tim the Fanboy): Timin’s life went in cycles: absolute devotion to a system of belief, discovery that this belief system is not perfect, and bitter, angry rejection of the system and everyone who still believed in it, followed by over-devotion to a new belief system. After abandoning Islam, he became the Science Fiction Club’s most devoted zealot, then betrayed them to worship a time-travelling warlord. Before he could grow disenchanted with this third “God”, however, he lost his life in a laser battle with Katherine that nearly killed her, too.
- Stuart Jackson: At one time he was the worst member of the Club, sexist and brutish, coming close to being expelled and then selling the Club out to the Confederacy. But he was beginning to show signs of decency when he lost his life to General Maximillianna’s army. An alternate-future version of Stu became a lawyer with Katherine, defending his timeline’s dwindling human rights; ironically, it was his dismissal from the club in this timeline that led to his re-evaluation of his life and perspectives.
[edit] Antagonists
Important adversaries of the club have included:
- Thackerabilitus Sieughiewiecz: A geeky hacker, ‘Thack’ attempted to seize control of the internet in order to destroy fandom and establish himself as ‘the last fan’. He was the first enemy the Science Fiction Club faced.
- Desmond Jones: Leader of the F.I.B. throughout most of the strip’s run. Although pragmatic, ruthless and manipulative, Jones displayed an uneasiness about his work that helped ensure that he never (seriously) abused his power, and the F.I.B. and the Club clashed on several occasions before entering into an uneasy alliance as Jones managed to convince the Club that they were ultimately working towards the same goals.
- The General: A bloodthirsty soldier from a future that had all but abolished war and thus made her skills redundant, the General was a time-traveller who attempted to stall the development of science fiction at numerous key points in its history as to create alternative universes for her and her armies to invade and conquer. She was opposed by the Science Fiction Club and the Professor, a fellow time-traveller from her future who was sent to stop her. Her full name was Jullianna Espin Maximiliana.
- Mr. Mist: Desmond Jones’s second-in-command at the F.I.B., Mist sold his soul to Satan for the chance to overshadow Jones and to establish himself as a hero by saving the world from alien carnivores, taking it over in the process. It may be a coincidence, but his appearance without the messed up hair[2] is surprisingly similar to the professors.[3]
- Billy Scott: Harry Scott’s grandson, Scott was suspicious of the Science Fiction Club’s explanation for his grandfather’s death, and erroneously convinced himself that Will Erixon was responsible. This led him to wage a secret campaign to destroy the Club and revenge himself on Will.
[edit] Crossovers
Through its duration, the comic has crossed over with several other comics. A list and description of these crossovers is as follows:
- Knights of the Dinner Table: Just as they return home after the end of their first major adventure, the cast of the Fans! meets with the cast of the Knights of the Dinner Table in the airport. They play a role playing game, observed unawares by Agent Miller of the FIB.
- College Roomies from Hell!!!:
- 1st crossover: Agent Pinkerton of the FIB, manipulates the cast of CRFH!!! into attacking the fans--then captures both parties in a virtual reality where their recollections of their past lives is altered.
- 2nd crossover: Rikk and Will visit the campus of CRFH!!! Rikk in order to get advice from Dave on how to deal with capital-E Evil (and Mr. Mist in particular) and Will so as to resolve his feelings about April, still present from the alternate-reality relationship they’d shared.
- Elf Life: (one-sided crossover, only in Fans!) While time-travelling, the fans encounter Baughb the Elf who in the late 19th century had met with H. G. Wells and inspired him with his life’s story.
- It’s Walky!: Ill side-effects of the combination of time-travel with magic take the fans into the universe of It’s Walky! where they are soon threatened by the Aliens and “The Cheese”.
- The Saga of the Ram: (one-sided crossover, only in The Saga of the Ram) Shanna Cochran investigates the identity of the superhero called “The Ram”, before being abducted by the villain Bradley Shaw (aka Omnipotence) who has successfully brought General Maximiliana into the present for his own purposes.
- Narbonic: (one-sided crossover, only in Fans!) In the series’s penultimate chapter, Dr. Helen "Alpha" Narbon serves as the primary villain, among a host of other cameo appearances from a variety of media.
