T Campbell ’s long - hunt down webcomic Fans ! is a love varsity letter to buff and fandom of all stripe . When his feisty band of rooter are n’t gaming or roleplay or reading scifi , they ’re taking down authorities conspiracies , militant time travelers , and torso - swapping scientists .
In the webcomics family tree diagram , Fans!isn’t nearly the granddaddy , but something of revered , slimly kooky uncle with great stories . Campbell launch Fans ten years ago with cartoonist Jason Waltrip ( who also cover art duty on Campbell ’s high school day dramedy webcomicPenny and Aggie ) , and it ’s crossed over with with likewise long - execute cartoon strip likeKnights of the Dinner TableandCollege Roomies from Hell ! ! ! . Even with a multi - year respite , that makes the archive spiller a bit of a commitment , but it ’s deserving it to see how the serial publication ’ mythology and characters evolve .
The titular fan are members of the Billberg University Science Fiction and Fantasy Club ( at times cheekily termed “ Skiffy ” ) . There ’s Rikk , a shy evangelical Christian and natural born leader ; Kath , the nightspot ’s SCA - loving , power - unhinged president ; Will , an aspiring thespian with a love for cosplay and a awe of his own metier ; Rumy , a dispiritedly romantic soldierlike arts passe-partout and apparently a refugee from the manga universe ; Tim , a ripe - natured hacker whose mother wit of temper and hygienics is refutable at good ; Alisin , a ego - destructive barbarian with a checkered yesteryear ; and Shanna , the nominal non - buff , whose cynical dismissal of fandom belies her fearfulness of her own imagination .
before long the Science Fiction Club is battling all manner of fantastical menace . They match wits with their own rendering of Agents Mulder and Scully . They slip into an heroic whodunit that follows the plot of Lord of the Rings . There ’s even a metafictional moment whereScott McCloud explains the history of comics crossing . But though much of the Skiffies ’ worldview is informed by the fiction they love , not all of their dangerous undertaking are sendups of other people ’s stories . Campbell takes the FBI of the Adam - Files as a start percentage point and develop out his own FIB as a regime body the Skiffies must reckon – and sometimes ferment – with . And Campbell ’s own innovations have the most staying business leader throughout the serial – his orthogonal aliens who communicate best with visual creative person , his time - traveling generalissima waggle state of war on the infinite timelines .
The substantial key to Fans ! , though , is Campbell ’s obvious fondness for his characters . Most of the Skiffies are college kids , and Fans chronicles their grow up . For some , this mean first loves , for others , exorcise their personal demon . Through their adventures , the club members cure and turn , and it ’s gratifying to reach its many heartwarming moments . As the mould gain , not every reference is as loveable as the core team and not every character is pay off , but Campbell makes it decipherable that everyone – from the self - absorbed actress to the opprobrious hedonist – is reformable .
And Fans has oft serve as an exploration of fandom itself . Although fandom and imaginativeness are presented as vital to our hero sandwich and their existence , Fans does explore the idea of rooter as fanatic . And , in later luck of the serial , when fandom enters the mainstream and geeks rule the Earth , an alternate population crossover with Penny and Aggiesuggests that not everyone is happy and accepted in this new fannish universe order .
In 2005 , Campbell and Waltrip shuttered fans , wrapping up its major storylines ( some more abruptly than others ) and apparently shut the Word . But in 2008 , they started the comic strip back up , with a new generation of geek action Hero that ruminate shifts in our popular finish : a whizz gaming hotshot , a societal medium junkie , a puzzle passe-partout , a mavin engineer who is , much to her mortification , a existent living catgirl . Like their predecessor , though , they have their own cicatrice , and confront some awesomely weird foe .
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