A Softer World
Encyclopedia
A Softer World is a thrice weekly webcomic
by Canadians
Joey Comeau
and Emily Horne. It first came online on February 7, 2003. Early comics
had been published, intermittently, in zine
form. With the launch of the website, the comic has gained wider recognition, most notably when Warren Ellis
linked to the comic on his blog, and then began to feature it as a "Favored Puny Human". The comic won the first Web Cartoonists' Choice Award for photographic webcomic in 2007. It often appears in The Guardian
and was profiled in the September 2007 issue of the Australian Rolling Stone
.
A collected edition, A Softer World: Truth & Beauty Bombs (ISBN 0-9739171-1-3), reprinting 180 strips, was released in June 2006. A second collection, Second Best Isn't So Bad, was released on 2009.
art, either a series of three photographs, or one photograph that is spread over multiple frames, or repeated with different crops and zooms. The photographs are taken by Horne, then sent to Comeau for text.
The tone of the comic tends to be slightly absurdist
and dark, with the punchlines often being simultaneously humorous and disturbing, occasionally with overt sexual content. For instance, the text of the strip from which the comic takes its name reads, "In the caves behind my house, I found a softer world. / They understand what I had to do for love. / They don't believe in restraining orders." Recurring themes include sexuality, accidents or disasters, and zombies.
Placing one's cursor over the comic image and allowing it to sit still (what is sometimes called "hovering") will prompt the image title to appear, which acts as text for a fourth panel or commentary related to the strip overall. In May 2010, a feature was added to display this text when clicking or tapping on the comic image, for users on mobile phones and touchscreen
devices, which lack a "hovering" function.
Some models can be spotted repeatedly in many strips, and are friends of photographer Emily Horne.
The site also includes "Overqualified", an occasional series of satirical cover letters for job applications. These cover letters are generally written so as to reveal a degree of insanity in the imagined author. For example, one is a letter from someone applying to be a mall Santa Claus
, in which he explains that, as a foreman at Mattel
, he fired all the middle aged men and hired midgets who he forced to wear green costumes, and that, after being fired, he broke into houses to steal milk and cookies. Overqualified has recently been published in book form.
"i am other people" is a series of interviews that Joey conducts with people.
In an attempt to raise money for his tuition, Joey wrote a novella, Lockpick Pornography, and released it in a micropatronage form on his website. He posted the first chapter for free with a PayPal
donation link, telling his readers that he'd release each additional chapter after he'd raised a couple hundred more dollars through donations. Response was so enthusiastic that he posted all seven chapters within a week. Loose Teeth press has since published the novella with an additional three chapters. The full book is now available as a free download from the Lockpick Pornography website.
Webcomic
Webcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....
by Canadians
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
Joey Comeau
Joey Comeau
Joey Comeau is a Canadian writer from Halifax, Nova Scotia. He is best known for writing the text of the webcomic A Softer World and for his novels Lockpick Pornography and Overqualified. His work is difficult to classify by genre...
and Emily Horne. It first came online on February 7, 2003. Early comics
Comics
Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...
had been published, intermittently, in zine
Zine
A zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier....
form. With the launch of the website, the comic has gained wider recognition, most notably when Warren Ellis
Warren Ellis
Warren Girard Ellis is an English author of comics, novels, and television, who is well-known for sociocultural commentary, both through his online presence and through his writing, which covers transhumanist themes...
linked to the comic on his blog, and then began to feature it as a "Favored Puny Human". The comic won the first Web Cartoonists' Choice Award for photographic webcomic in 2007. It often appears in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
and was profiled in the September 2007 issue of the Australian Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
.
A collected edition, A Softer World: Truth & Beauty Bombs (ISBN 0-9739171-1-3), reprinting 180 strips, was released in June 2006. A second collection, Second Best Isn't So Bad, was released on 2009.
Format
With occasional exceptions of a few double-length strips, each comic is three panels long. The three panels are made up of photographicPhotography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
art, either a series of three photographs, or one photograph that is spread over multiple frames, or repeated with different crops and zooms. The photographs are taken by Horne, then sent to Comeau for text.
The tone of the comic tends to be slightly absurdist
Absurdist fiction
Absurdist fiction is a genre of literature, most often employed in novels, plays or poems, that focuses on the experiences of characters in a situation where they cannot find any inherent purpose in life, most often represented by ultimately meaningless actions and events...
and dark, with the punchlines often being simultaneously humorous and disturbing, occasionally with overt sexual content. For instance, the text of the strip from which the comic takes its name reads, "In the caves behind my house, I found a softer world. / They understand what I had to do for love. / They don't believe in restraining orders." Recurring themes include sexuality, accidents or disasters, and zombies.
Placing one's cursor over the comic image and allowing it to sit still (what is sometimes called "hovering") will prompt the image title to appear, which acts as text for a fourth panel or commentary related to the strip overall. In May 2010, a feature was added to display this text when clicking or tapping on the comic image, for users on mobile phones and touchscreen
Touchscreen
A touchscreen is an electronic visual display that can detect the presence and location of a touch within the display area. The term generally refers to touching the display of the device with a finger or hand. Touchscreens can also sense other passive objects, such as a stylus...
devices, which lack a "hovering" function.
Cast
There is no cast to speak of, as each comic tends to stand alone. There are two recurring characters however. The first is Baby Doom, an infant that plotted to destroy the world. He has appeared in three comics, but was run over by a car, and, apparently, killed off. Also, there is a black cat, Wednesday, who is featured in several of the strips.Some models can be spotted repeatedly in many strips, and are friends of photographer Emily Horne.
Other features of the site
"i blame the sea" is Emily Horne's photo journal, added to the site in 2008 and updated weekly.The site also includes "Overqualified", an occasional series of satirical cover letters for job applications. These cover letters are generally written so as to reveal a degree of insanity in the imagined author. For example, one is a letter from someone applying to be a mall Santa Claus
Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
, in which he explains that, as a foreman at Mattel
Mattel
Mattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. The company's name is derived from...
, he fired all the middle aged men and hired midgets who he forced to wear green costumes, and that, after being fired, he broke into houses to steal milk and cookies. Overqualified has recently been published in book form.
"i am other people" is a series of interviews that Joey conducts with people.
In an attempt to raise money for his tuition, Joey wrote a novella, Lockpick Pornography, and released it in a micropatronage form on his website. He posted the first chapter for free with a PayPal
PayPal
PayPal is an American-based global e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. Online money transfers serve as electronic alternatives to paying with traditional paper methods, such as checks and money orders....
donation link, telling his readers that he'd release each additional chapter after he'd raised a couple hundred more dollars through donations. Response was so enthusiastic that he posted all seven chapters within a week. Loose Teeth press has since published the novella with an additional three chapters. The full book is now available as a free download from the Lockpick Pornography website.
External links
- asofterworld.com - official homepage
- Lockpick Pornography
- Maximum Fun article by Aaron Matthews
- "Comic Mix" interview by Rick Marshall
- Comic Book Resources article by Alex Dueben
- "Best Webcomics of 2005" list
- Late Night Jengajam Interview conducted by John "Jengaship" Edathil, September 27, 2007 on TalkshoeTalkShoeTalkShoe is a Web 2.0 Internet radio/podcasting site that uses a Java chat client in conjunction with a conference call bridge to allow users to host or participate in live on-line talk radio shows called "community calls" or simply a "call" for short. A call can be syndicated and downloaded after...
; 1 hour. - Infinite Comic - a softer world generator