If it wasn't for those damn whelks by Impshum

[impshum]

If it wasn't for those damn whelks by Impshum (that's the title) is a collection of one-panel cartoons which are sometimes, but not always, about the many misfortunes of life. They contain confusing and mindless outlandish statements which will certainly bemuse and perplex you.

The idea behind these crazy and sometimes mind baffling cartoons is best not explained in too much depth as the plot to the individual pieces can have many meanings to different people. This is not to say they don't have meaning in themselves but more the fact that every single installment is written to address the same issue.

Whelks have the upper hand. Whelks have the knowledge and the power to cause immense misfortune. You have been forewarned.

Get your face over to http://impshum.co.uk for the comics.

All and any any feedback/abuse is greatly appreciated.

S.x

[Rob]

I have to admit... I took a look and I don't get it. Maybe it's because I'm over 40.  :-\

[Dr. BlkKnight]

I don't really get it either, so you're not alone.

[mcfadyn]

I'll be honest, it's kind of terrible.  Sorry, man.

[Gar]

Had a look at some of your comics. At the moment it seems kind of random for the sake of random. I can see what you're going for, but I don't think you're quite there yet.

For good random free-association humour, see if you can download The Goon Show from somewhere (it's an old radio series, so you can put it on your iPod and listen at your leisure). If you can find stuff by Spike Milligan, he's a really good absurdist comedian. Naturally you don't want to steal jokes, but listen for what he's doing.

Absurdist humour requires a leap of logic where you go off on an unexpected tangent from where people think you're going, but people need to be able to follow you. They should need to swerve to follow you, but there needs to be an internal logic. I liked the one where they were lining up alphabetically according to height - that one made sense, but in a really silly way, and I think that's what you should be aiming for.

Also, don't be afraid to put in actual musings on life and philosophy, you can twist them at the end to make them funny. Give the philosopher character a sidekick who takes everything literally or interprets everything sexually or something.

As for the art, I think you can make your faces a bit more expressive. If all your characters are going to be rounded rectangles, there's no reason not to go to town on the facial detail. I'd recommend switching from dot eyes to cartoon eyes, and you should learn to draw teeth.

[mcfadyn]

Haha, thanks Gar.  That's kind of along the lines of what I wanted to say, but just didn't want to type it all out.  What you said goes ditto for me.  All I'll say about art is that it truly doesn't matter.  Bringing up xkcd and Dino comics, as most do, you can obviously see they can't draw worth a damn... but they get some of the most hits out of anyone.  Why?  It's the writing.  As an artist, it's hard to say, but the majority of people come back for the writing/stories you give them.  I mean, I couldn't imagine xkcd drawn like Penny Arcade or Hark! A Vagrant.  Find what works for the type of strip you want to be part of and go from there.  Hell, worst case scenario, you don't like the art... change it.  It's your comic and you can do whatever the hell you please.  There, there's my two pennies on the whole thing.  More constructive now that it's not so late in the evening.  Goodluck with it in the future though man.

[Dragon Powered]

Random blatherings from a power socket that wishes it was ingenious enough to be in an insane asylum, but instead has the intelligence of, well, a power socket.