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'''''Real Life''''' is a ] drawn and authored by Greg Dean. Begun on ] ] and published on weekdays, the comic is loosely based around the real lives of Greg and his friends (hence the name). '''''Real Life''''' is a ] drawn and authored by Elizabeth Dean. Begun on ] ] and published on weekdays, the comic is loosely based around the real lives of Greg and her friends (hence the name).


'Loosely' ranges from verbatim quotes to completely ludicrous events including ] and ] combat. Unsurprisingly, the characters tend to be rather heavily exaggerated versions of their actual selves. ''Real Life'' focuses on humor related to ], ], and other such "nerd humor", although in recent times Dean has been finding less time for ] and as such has been directing his comic slightly away from that. Though by name it claims to be based on real life, the characters live lives very much of their own and are best known for ]. ''Real Life'' is also a major spreader of various ]s such as "]" and "]". 'Loosely' ranges from verbatim quotes to completely ludicrous events including ] and ] combat. Unsurprisingly, the characters tend to be rather heavily exaggerated versions of their actual selves. ''Real Life'' focuses on humor related to ], ], and other such "nerd humor", although in recent times Dean has been finding less time for ] and as such has been directing his comic slightly away from that. Though by name it claims to be based on real life, the characters live lives very much of their own and are best known for ]. ''Real Life'' is also a major spreader of various ]s such as "]" and "]".

Revision as of 00:11, 21 November 2006

Real Life
Strip from August 1, 2005
Author(s)Greg Dean
Websitehttp://www.reallifecomics.com/
Current status/scheduleUpdating every weekday
Launch date1999 November 15
Genre(s)Exaggerated Reality

Real Life is a webcomic drawn and authored by Elizabeth Dean. Begun on November 15 1999 and published on weekdays, the comic is loosely based around the real lives of Greg and her friends (hence the name).

'Loosely' ranges from verbatim quotes to completely ludicrous events including time travel and mecha combat. Unsurprisingly, the characters tend to be rather heavily exaggerated versions of their actual selves. Real Life focuses on humor related to video games, science fiction, and other such "nerd humor", although in recent times Dean has been finding less time for video games and as such has been directing his comic slightly away from that. Though by name it claims to be based on real life, the characters live lives very much of their own and are best known for breaking the fourth wall. Real Life is also a major spreader of various memes such as "Fuego" and "ShirtNinja".

Once part of Keenspot, Real Life has been part of the Blank Label Comics collective since June 22, 2005. The Real Life website is currently hosted by Phillip Karlsson's Dumbrella Hosting service.

Year one of Real Life is available on paperback ISBN 0-9746966-2-5.

Characters

Major characters

  • Greg Dean - The main character of the strip, and a fictional representation of the author of the comic. Tends to be a bit of a wingnut at times, and tends to act before he thinks things through; however, his actions primarily a product of a naïveté. Greg seems to constantly switch roles between being the voice of reason and the voice in need of reason. He is also very fond of Pepsi cola, to the point of addiction. Greg sometimes appears as his not-so-secret alter ego the Shirt Ninja, speaking in Japanese and carrying his own subtitles. He used to work as a fuel jock at a small airport, but is currently attending culinary school. He previously lived in Rancho Cordova, but has since moved to San Francisco.
  • Tony Flansaas - The comic's resident evil overlord. Has made many attempts over the course of the comic's existence to take over the world, and has even succeeded a couple of times. Think of any technological achievement made in the past two years, and even a number that won't come around for decades yet -- Tony did it 5 years ago, and made it out of bubblegum, spare hard drive parts, and a DivX player too. He's almost like a cross between MacGyver and Dr. Evil. Tony is often the fulcrum on which most of Real Life's more far-fetched story lines revolve. His character is presented in such a way so that the readers start to believe that the real life Tony might just have a BattleMech, dimension-hopping TV remote or a cloning machine lying around the house. His most recent achievement was a quantum doorway, which can be tuned to open up to any point in space. Has a not-so-secret identity counterpoint to Greg's Shirt Ninja called the Black Pants Samurai, only seen in one storyline thus far: he speaks via bad voice acting (and presumably atrocious lip-synching). He has currently finished building a space station called "DS-1", which stands for Death Station 1.
  • Dave Reynolds - Resident powergamer and supernerd. Play him in Quake III Arena and he'll own you, no questions asked. While the real Dave's currently in the Navy, that doesn't stop him from showing up and adding some of his cynical, nerdy point of view to a strip. Dave rivals Tony in technical ability. However, whereas Tony seems to be a genius in all subjects, Dave's genius seems to lie mostly in computers. In one of the earlier comic strips, Dave upgraded his computer into a sentient being. The computer, PAL, went on to become a minor character in the strip, and was joined over time by several other technologically improved computers and consoles.
  • Crystal - Greg's girlfriend when the strip started, but they broke up in 2000. She is no longer mentioned or appears in the strip, but was an integral part of the first year of the strip. She ended up with a supercomputer that was infected by an evil AI version of Tony.
  • Elizabeth "Liz" Van Buskirk - Greg's wife, and an avid cosplayer. She started out as "Lizzy" to avoid confusion between the "Liz" he had already put in the comic and this new Liz. Eventually, the old Liz was phased out and now the new one is called Liz. She has a fizzy, bubbly personality, and tends to be the only one in the strip with a level head. She was engaged, and later married, to Greg in early 2005.
  • The Cartoonist - Cartoonist Greg doesn't appear all that often, but when he does, he's usually an omnipotent force screwing with the lives of his cartoon creations. He also appears in the strip to make an announcement, to answer questions that readers occasionally send him or to complain about a possible lack of ideas for the strip, usually blaming it on a robot malfunctioning. His appearance is differentiated from Comic Greg by a change of colours (light brown overshirt, black tee with white stripes), and slightly shaggy hair. He sometimes appears with a goatee.

Minor characters

Some characters have not shown up more than a few times in the comic, whether it be that Greg never knew the person long enough for them to be in the comic for long, or that he never found a place for them to be in the comic. Ben, Cliff, and Lena, additions to the cast made in early 2004, are listed in here, and while they are still used from time to time, they are not as established as the above characters.

  • Cliff Hicks - Clothed in his alien three-eyed smiley-face T-shirt (a reference to the comic Transmetropolitan), Cliff is probably the closest to being a regular character of any of the new additions. He currently lives with Greg and Liz, and is probably the least nerdy of all the characters. Cliff also has his own webcomic, Dr. Devious vs. Lincoln High. He often acts as their dungeon master for RPGs, usually resulting in success in rolling for an extremely unlikely event, such as killing a dragon with a kick or intimidating a djinn.
  • Ben - Has appeared less than five times, but is notable in that his first appearance, he was punched in the face by Greg, much to the delight of many of the forum regulars. Whenever he's been shown in the strip, he's been portrayed as a bit of a jerk.
  • Lena - Ben's girlfriend, and a big anime nut. Provides a lot of anime for Greg. Has only appeared in a few strips as well.
  • Adam Compton - Ask Adam for a program, and he'll give you that program along with a few older versions of it for kicks. Suffered a hard drive format when Greg asked him to hack Jack in the Box's corporate headquarters. In addition he appears to be Greg's sparring partner in the Magic the Gathering card game.
  • Alan Extra - Any time there is a need for a character in the background or a random person in the comic, Alan is there. He's been in quite a few comics. A brief story arc even went into his origins. All the same, Alan remains, for the most part, a versatile character who can be put into any role. An introspective into his RL career in the comic showed that his contract bears a salary of precisely zero dollars. He held out for a raise at one point, and accepted an increase of 200% - effectively tripling his wage to, er, precisely zero dollars.
  • Elizabeth "Liz" Mosely - Not to be confused with Liz, Greg's wife. It was not intentional that the two girls he dated and introduced into the comic after Crystal were both named Liz. Liz was introduced into the comic by means of character audition. Coincidentally, she was rarely seen afterwards.
  • PAL - Dave's computer. Pal was upgraded and became sentient early on in the comic. He has relatively little character development and serves more often as a plot device in a story arc. Early on in the strip Pal was connected together with a Dreamcast gaming system. PAL upgraded the system and it too became aware. Since then the two have been partners. However their relation is rather odd. PAL being extremely intelligent and for the most part serious while the Dreamcast is more naïve. This makes the two of them seem similar to Pinky and the Brain or Pooch and Percival of Sinfest.

Awards

  • Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards:
    • 2001: Won for Best Reality Comic.
    • 2003: Tied for Best Reality Comic with Nowhere Girl.
      Nominated for Best Technical Achievement, Best Original Digital Art, Best Gaming Comic and Best Gag Comic.
    • 2004: Won for Best Reality Comic.
    • 2005: Tied for Best Reality Comic with The Devil's Panties.

External links

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