Basic Instructions (comics)

Basic Instructions

Author(s)	Scott Meyer
Website	http://basicinstructions.net/
Current status / schedule	Monday, Wednesday & Friday
Launch date	July 1, 2003
Genre(s)	Comedy

Basic Instructions is a webcomic by artist, comedian and writer Scott Meyer. The comic has been available on LiveJournal since 2003 ^[1] and on the author's Web site since 2006.^[2]

Three books have been published,^[3] the first two by Dark Horse Comics, all containing compilations of strips with some new content, forewords written by the characters and commentary on the comics themselves.

Content and Format

Each comic purports to provide instructions on a "how to" topic seemingly taken from everyday life, such as "How to Lie for Recreational Purposes" or "How to Win at Monopoly Without Losing a Friend", and then deals with the subject in a frequently perverse or unexpected manner. The characters in the comic are Scott Meyer himself and representations of the people he interacts with on a daily basis, such as his wife, his boss, and his best friend. The author has stated in interviews that many of the characters are based on real people.

Each comic contains four panels in a grid, and each panel typically contains instructions as well as the standard comic drawings. The author has said that he aims to include a joke in each panel. The unusual format has made it difficult for the author to publish it in standard print syndication, despite an attempt by Scott Adams of Dilbert to help Meyer reformat the cartoon for wider distribution.^[4] Meyer felt that the format required by newspaper would not permit him to use his personal brand of humor and story development which requires the four-panel, narrated layout..

Characters

Main Characters

The three main characters are based on Scott Meyer himself and his real-world wife Missy and best friend Rick.

Scott

Scott is the main character and a somewhat autobiographical representation of the author in the comic, according to Meyer. Scott is generally depicted as being ironic, intelligent and geeky, interested in comic books, science fiction, and video games. He takes a laissez-faire attitude towards his work and his friends. He enjoys debate, but is frequently depicted in discussions or arguments as being on the losing side. Scott also appears as a younger version, more naive and with hair, and an older future version, who lives in a post-apocalyptic environment.

The visual depiction of Scott is also used for other characters such as Omnipresent Man and Rocket Hat. Those characters rarely interact with the "real" Scott. These alternates may be considered fantasy versions or alter-egos of the main character.

Missy

Missy is Scott's wife. She also enjoys video games. Missy generally comes out on top in discussions, debates, and arguments with Scott. The art for Missy is also used for the superhero character The Judger.^[5]

Rick

Rick is Scott's best friend, a failure at everything he does with incredibly bad luck,^[6] with the attendant low self-esteem. Rick is single with little chance on a future relationship. Rick's alter egos are the superheros Knifeketeer,^[7] Mister Everywhere^[8] and the science fiction villain the Moon Emperor.

Science Fiction Alter Egos

The comic strip features regularly recurring strips dealing with a science fiction alternate reality in which the Moon Emperor is attempting to take control of the Earth, and is repeatedly foiled by the silent but intrepid Rocket Hat.

Rocket Hat

Rocket Hat is Scott's science fiction alter ego. Rocket Hat never moves or speaks while he is being depicted, acting only off camera, and serves primarily as foil to the Moon Emperor. Generally a strip begins with Rocket Hat being captured by the Moon Emperor, and ends with him escaping through violence, ingenuity, or wits.

Moon Emperor

The Moon Emperor is Rick's space fantasy character. He is the archetypal megalomaniac evil villain, capturing Rocket Hat at the beginning of most of his strips and allowing him to escape at the end. The Moon Emperor has powerful minions but is himself a pathetic and weak character who never achieves his long-planned overthrow of Earth. His slogan is "The details are unimportant!".

Super Hero Alter Egos

The comic strip features regularly recurring strips dealing with a group of super heroes, generally with ineffective or useless powers, who spend more time discussing their problems than they do fighting crime.

Omnipresent Man

Omnipresent Man is a fantasy character of Scott as a super hero. He is present everywhere in the world at the same time. He is also present everywhere else at the same time. This presents him with certain opportunities and certain problems.^[9]

Knifeketeer

The knifeketeer is Rick's super hero alter ego. He wears a large number of different knives, but his primary weapon is a boxing glove on a stick. Possibly there is a knife concealed inside.

Macramayhem

Jenkins' alter ego is Macramayhem. He is a master of martial crafts. He serves primarily as a villain to combat the Knifeketeer.

Office Characters

Mullet Boss

He is the manager of the office and a depiction of a stereotypical lazy and superior boss, with some interesting quirks. In several comics he is depicted as incompetent and lazy, and he usually tries to blame Scott for it. Mullet Boss sometimes surprises with oddly creative, wise, or sensitive actions.

Jenkins

Jenkins is a co-worker of Scott. He makes bad jokes, always refuses to fill in the weekly RJ-17 form and makes Scott do it. Like most in the office, he is incompetent and lazy. His views on women are perverted, with the result that the women in the office try to avoid him.

The Customer

Often visits the office to check on progress of the work of undefined administrative nature. He is not expecting much, and usually gets disappointed. He verbally fights with whoever is assigned to talk to him - usually Scott.

Printed Media

In September 2008 the first book, Help Is on the Way, a compilation of the strips, was published by Dark Horse Books, a division of Dark Horse Comics. This book contains a foreword by Ric.

2010 saw the release of the second book, Make with 90% Recycled Art, where Missy wrote the foreword and Ric provides an afterword.

In 2011 Scott published the third book, The Curse of the Masking-Tape Mummy. Scott himself wrote the foreword.

In 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, a page-a-day calendar titled "Basic Instructions" was published. Each daily calendar entry contains a single frame with the four frames for a complete comic appearing on consecutive days.

Other media

In August 2008, Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comic, discussed Basic Instructions and syndication on his blog.^[10]