It also allows for an interaction between reader and character, a novelty in comic art. The column has developed characters, mainly as perceived by Ray. On April 30, 2003, Onstad introduced a new feature to the Achewood universe-an advice column written by the character Ray called Ray's Place. would be perfectly at home at a good alternative weekly or a great college paper." Achewood is sometimes featured in the Chaparral, Stanford University's humor publication, of which Onstad is an editor emeritus. use the newspaper format for far more daring, entertainingly perverse work . In their review of, The Comics Journal wrote: "It's a pleasure to see strips like Achewood's 'Sunday' strip . In October 2002, Achewood 's "Sunday Edition" became part of the online alternative comics anthology Serializer. A second cookbook, titled The Achewood Cookbook II was announced and paid pre-orders were taken, but it never shipped. it was late and a friend was over." The most frequently used font in the strip is Blue Highway, which does not contain any italic characters.Ĭhris Onstad has self-published sixteen books: seven collections of Achewood comics, two books by character Nice Pete ( A Wonderful Tale and A Hilarious Comedy), six 'zines by another named Roast Beef, and Recipes for a Lady or a Man: The Achewood Cookbook with recipes from several of the main characters. The first of the regular full-sentence alt-text appeared on January 2, 2002, apparently excusing a weak strip: "whatever. The first alt-text was the word snif on Christmas, 2001. Most strips include an alt text, a one-sentence aside written in Onstad's voice that appears when the reader hovers the cursor over the strip. Story arcs are often interrupted as the main action "cuts away" to the activity of other Achewood characters, which may or may not tie in with the main storyline. The humor often depends on an in-depth knowledge of the characters and their interactions a drop-down box on the lower right side of the home page links to the beginning of 46 story arcs from 2002 to 2010. Strips are humorous, relying upon bizarre and chaotic humor as well as social stereotypes, obscure burlesque literary and historical references, and strong characterization of the comic's many quirky individuals. Onstad's preferred method of story telling is to develop his characters through one-off strips and short story arcs. Throughout Achewood, there is no distinguishable underlying storyline-aside from, perhaps, the general passing of time and development of the comic's characters and their interrelationships. Bear informs Téodor that there is an instruction manual. Bear and Téodor are discussing Téodor's confusion over a drum machine. The strip sets the tone for future strips with its nonsensical humor and flat visual punchline. The first Achewood strip ("Philippe is standing on it" ) was released on October 1, 2001. On December 25, 2016, Onstad announced that the strip was again on hiatus. The strip returned on December 24, 2015, and was updated most subsequent Fridays. No further news has come on this front, and the comic itself was not updated between April 7, 2014, and December 24, 2015. Onstad indicated in 2012 his plans for pitching Achewood as an animated series. However, Chris Onstad has stated that no regular schedule will be in effect, and new strips have been sporadic. In November 2011 the comic returned, followed by an announcement in December that the hiatus was over. Originally published regularly, the comic began to skip days in late 2010, and in March 2011 Onstad announced that Achewood would be going on indefinite hiatus. As Onstad is a food and cooking enthusiast, many Achewood strips contain some reference to food or drink. The world of the strip is expansive, featuring many major and minor characters with detailed backstories, and often references previous events, making it an ongoing narrative. The comic's humor is most often absurdist, typically lacking a traditional set punchline, and very often moves to the highly surreal.
The events of the strip mostly take place in and around the house, as well as around the town of Achewood, the fictional suburb which gives its name to the comic. Many of the characters live together in the home of their owner, Chris, at the fictional address of 62 Achewood Court. It portrays the lives of a group of anthropomorphic stuffed toys, robots, and pets. ( April 2016) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Īchewood is a webcomic created by Chris Onstad in 2001. Please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources. This article relies too much on references to primary sources.