Little Gamers by Fundin and Madsen, reviewed by Michael Whitney

If you've ever been in an online game, you've probably watched two barely literate guys duke it out using the chat functions. The typical lame insults are usually thrown around. One guy is a pussy. One guy's mother is a whore. It's basically a nerds' table slap fight moved from the high school cafeteria to the Internet.

If you've seen that, then Little Gamers will seem familiar. The strip often reads like one of those geek battles, complete with the requisite "STFUs", "LOLs", missing punctuation and the teenage comedy law that it's funny (for some reason) when someone or something is gay.

The creators, Christian Fundin and Pontus Madsen, have a habit of using their site to vent and to rally their Internet troops. The current news post singles out someone who has imitated their art style for fanboy malevolence. "Please flame this idiot .. if you have nothing better to do that is :)", Madsen writes. There have been other targets in the past, and the strips, too, have sometimes had similar goals.

Other strips feature humor in the "dude" sub-genre. As in: Dude, I'm addicted to this game. Dude, he totally killed that guy. Dude, ninjas are sweet. Games figure heavily, of course, but the jokes are timeless "dude" jokes.

The art is done in an extremely basic rounded style with solid lines and no shading or midtones, except in rare color strips. A curved line marks the only difference between the characters Marcus and Madsen. With their bowling ball heads and dot eyes, the character designs are almost identical to PlayMobil figures, which is why it's a bit ironic that Fundin and Madsen defend their style so vehemently.

The "cute" character designs and the name, Little Gamers — which sounds sappy for a strip that involves regular bouts of violence — are probably meant to be sarcastic. Put together with the frequent use of IRC and forum expressions like "wtf", "fsck", "pron", etc, though, the total style gives the strip a slapdash, half-hearted feel, like a one line forum post with no capital letters and three actual English words.

Not coincidentally, the strip has been parodied just as often as it's been imitated. The typical target of the parodies is the art, which is a bit unfair. The writing ought to be mocked a bit, too.

Somehow, though, this combination of mostly bad elements turns out to be just right. It may be that the strip is so lo-fi that it brushes anarchic appeal. Like a punk song, the lack of polish may be the point. They're sending a message, and it's not a love note. Teenage boys eat this stuff up like Pac-Man on Tic Tacs. If links and mention are any indication, Fundin and Madsen have a huge fan base. They've struck a nerve, and God help us.

When a strip is published as an insult, as a forum flame, every criticism you can level against it crumbles in your hands. The only applicable measure of its quality is the way that it affects its audience, and, by that standard, Little Gamers is a roaring success. If you spend your nights playing games and insulting your friends, you'll probably love this webcomic… unless you've had your fill of slap fights.

Michael Whitney is a staff contributor for the Comixpedia.

55 Comments

  1. Reading your review and the many comments that disagree with your apparently, low opinion on ‘Little Gamers’, I have to agree with the comments. The artwork is simple. So what? I (and many others) find it amusing that the characters are so plain yet are able to convey so many expressions. There are spelling errors, but if you’ve flipped through the archives, you’ll have noticed that there are several frames that acknowledge that AND they’re not afraid to make fun of themselves. Besides, they’re not American, Canadian, or of any other country that holds English as a national language. They’re Swedish, and I must say that their knowledge of English has improved greatly.
    If I were to comment on all the items mentioned in your review, then this comment wouldn’t so much as a comment than a speech.
    Anyway. I do realise that this is your personal opinion, but for hell’s sake, keep it to yourself.

  2. How many other awesome webcomics have adorable ninjas and poking sticks? This is one webcomic that pretty much ANYONE can understand and enjoy. You complain about the lack of punctuation or wrong spellings?
    THEY’RE NOT AMERICAN.
    And this makes them even better. I nearly DIED watching them attack President Bush, (soo funny), and you know what? They really ARE cute, which is one reason they get away with what they do.
    If you think they’re “slap fights” are bad, I’d hate to see you analyze the rest of the internet. You must not get online very much, or read Penny Arcade, as most of THEIR comics/news posts are ALSO flames and insults. At least these insults don’t take hours of reading to understand.

  3. I enjoy reading Little Gamers as it’s a very basic comic that doesn’t require too much reading to understand, and when you do have to read something it’s usually somewhat humerous in nature. However, that being said, sometimes the storyline can get rather redundant, with the same ninja jokes and poking stick jokes being rehashed like a bad Bugs Bunny cartoon.

    I will admit that they’re 2003 Christmas Comic cracked me up to no end, however. =)

  4. The last couple reviews I've read here seem to tear down the strips being reviewed. Perhaps I have to look harder but what do you see as the “perfect” comic? You bash the readers that enjoy the strip with comments like
    “If links and mention are any indication, Fundin and Madsen have a huge fan base. They've struck a nerve, and God help us.”
    Perhaps you write reviews in such a manner to try to ruffle feathers, but as I see it..You put down perfectly good comics. These comics mock real life and you mock them for it. Would the perfect comic then be a photographic comic (because the artwork captures true to life images..) with news reports cut-n-pasted from CNN? Typos, and these “nerd slap fights” are what make the strips enjoyable because they take reality and exagerate it. I'm sorry, but I've always thought that was the point of a comic.

  5. I just though I’d point out at the cost of sounding nerdy (ah well this is anonomous anyway) that fsck was derived from a unix function.

  6. I find this article really quite insulting. I have been reading little-gamers since they were o­n Gamespy.
    I am an avid gamer and a serious programmer (As in I am employeed in a soft-dev job). I have never said “stfu” or “lol”. Its easier to say it in plain english. However this does not stop me from enjoying the comic. I enjoy the way they take the piss out of the Americans, I like the simple art, I like everything about the comic and the artists. If you had the effort to read through all comics you might be able to appreciate the humour a bit more.
    One thing I must say however is that they are right about o­ne thing. To be different and original is a good thing. Thats what they are (Pontis and Madsen) and the comic is great.

  7. An american reviews a comic strip made by two europeans who are (like pretty much everybody who has some kind of basic intelligence) against the Bush administration and its cronies, and guess what? He doesn’t like it. Now why does that not surprise me?

    Nidhøgg,
    European and thankful for it

  8. Maby if you took the time to read the comic, without having to think about being critial about it. Try reading it when you get home from work, when you're not in “work mode”. Then maby you'll have loosened up a bit, and you'll be able to see the humor in the comic. As for poking fun at the Bush administration, everyone pokes fun at it. I'm a Canadian, and I poke fun at it. Give the internet community some slack, they're just like everyone o­ne else through that computer screen. Real people, with hobbies,  in this case, making webcomics to give some people a laugh.

  9. I (a european guy, so sue me) really adore there comic. I mean.. “lvl 18 and legal” that is like… so funny it hurts. Sure, some of their comics aren’t as good as the others, but hey give em a break.

    About the simple characters, that is absolutely what makes the comic (and the T-shirts!) so great. The whole idea that the art of a webcomic has to be badass is absolutely wrong. I don’t read PA for the art (hell i don’t actually read it for the comics either, the rants are where it’s at) but for the humor. And if you are able to be funny without all the uber-art, then you should be commended.

    Anyways, of course i’ll keep on reading their comics and buying their Tshirts. I guess that’s just the beauty of difference in opinions right.

  10. i’m american and i love this comic. so don’t go stereotyping all americans. not all of us are 8 years old and think we own the world.

  11. Ok great,
    another guy that thinks he is God or something?
    I have been reading this strip for over a year now and had some VERY good laughs with it.
    Especially because they are soo sarcastic about the L337 language but you don't seem to understand.
    Now you think that i am popably a no brainer because i enjoy this game, then you are wrong.
    I just enjoy all kinds of humor. I love the more difficult kind, but i also enjoy the easy humor.
    Is that wrong???
    Am I not good enough for you then because youuuu made a reeeevieeeew??

  12. Wow – if this was gamer/gaming cliché bingo then Mr Whitney would have a full house. I have to say that I found the tone of this article was very disappointing – it manages to be both condescending and rude.

    As others have pointed out, Pontin & Madsen’s first language isn’t English – so the reviewer has little room to criticise unless he could do equally well speaking in Swedish.

    The strip IS a slap-fight – that’s part of what makes it funny. It’s supposed to be a slap-fight. I have to wonder when reading this review, has the reviewer never heard of “exaggeration for comic effect”?

    Looking at the bottom left of the screen I see a little message “Welcome Guest, become a member today!”. I have to say this review has thoroughly put me off.

    -AGNF

  13. First let me say thankyou to the author of this article.  I read it and had a good laugh.

    I, personaly, am a huge LG fan.  I frequent thier forums and I check the website almost everyday for updates.  I`m still unsure wether I should be insulted or laugh at being part of thier Internet troops.  I do feel a bit of pitty for you, that you can`t see the underlying humor in this comic. (I take it someone got sent to scout camp insted of getting a game machine for thier birthday.)  And despite what you may think, most of the people in the forums are NOT teenage boys.  I am 23, and lead a life that doesn`t revolve around games.  There are many girls that frequent the forums as well.
    As for when people STEAL Mr. Madsen and Christians` work, see Ohmygods and a fan made spin off, he, as most people would, gets annoyed.  If someone was to steal your works, I personaly can`t see why someone would want to, you would be pretty upset your self.
    As a side note, I am an American. I`m studying in Japan, and I find that the world views expressed in LG are usualy o­n target and quite humorus at the same time.  The o­nly time I laugh harder about politics is when I watch The Daily Show.
    Thank you for your time, and thank you for publishing such amusing tripe.

  14. Dude! This Rocks! He nailed it, Little Gamers suck, I stole the art from Playmobil (actually it was bomberman/hello kitty) and Pontus can’t spell… oh wait, i guess he can’t spell, ignore that i the frame of sarcasm. Nice to see that 2 of the 3 “parodies” were actually tribute-comics. And actually i didn’t find this review offensive in any way, except the fact that Mr. Whitney is insinuating that i can’t draw (or spell), and i stole the design from Playmobil. And the combination of “bad” elements — which seems to refer to grammatically incorrect english (also known to the world as “american language) and “extremely basic” artwork (which could be interpereted as the more complex your art is, the better is is, Mondrian must be a fucking wanker in the eyes of Mr Whitney”) concludes that Mr. Whitney bases the review on personal opinions and lack of humor rather than objective journalism that somehow i get the feeling reviews are supposed to be written in. In any case, this comic is de facto popular and this mans review won’t change that, ever.

    And i almost forgot.
    Your father is a hamster and your mother smells like elderberry…

    /Christian Fundin (yes the real one)

  15. Ok, first of all, this comic is the most original comic out there. Comics that steal sprites are the lamest thing ever. Seriously, get off their backs. I really like how this comic breaks out of the mold. I have NOTHING against Ctrl-alt-del or Penny Arcade, but they use the typical webcomic style. Madsen/Fundin’s decision to make the comic entirely black and white (cept for the occasional x-mas edition) is awesome. They update almost daily, and NO other comic does that. PA/CAD spend a lot of time making the comic LOOK good, so sometimes the jokes are lame. LG minimized the artistic time to make it, and maximized the amount of comics/humor.

    – Pyralis

  16.  From the looks of it you seem to be basing your latest reviews o­n some sort of non-existant “perfect comic” as o­ne poster refered to it already. Exactly how are you reviewing it as opposed to just saying you don't like it, there's a difference you know. If you're reviewing a gaming comic shouldn't you be basing your opinion by those standards. Complaining o­n the over-usage of netspeak might be fine for some comics but when you're reviewing a comic aimed at that group I don't see where this becomes a problem. As for the netspeak, well forgive me for saying so but I didn't know there was an “x” in comics.

     Looks to me you've joined the group that seems to think that not liking popular things is cool and makes you smarter or wiser than the rest for that reason alone. Again, as another poster already said, you need to start looking at these comics while out of “working mode” and try reviewing them based o­n the genre of the comic.

  17. hmmm. i don’ think anyone has ever thought that Little gamers art is anything but quite simple and basic. I’m pretty hesitant to let you in on this secret but…. It is SUPPOSED to be simple and basic. Simplicity is generally a good thing, if you hadn’t noticed. A good example of why is look at LG, then look at several hundred comics on Keenspace that are inconsistently, poorly drawn, and just about never funny (for the ones trying to be) or interesting. The fact that there is only a single element to the characters to differentiate them shouldn’t be an issue when you consider that in Megatokyo, for example, it’s not always clear which girl Piro is talking to at the moment due to Fred Gallagher’s style of art. That man is good but like most manga artists, there’s times when all the characters look the same.

    in summation.. it’s nice to see that the art of reviewing a product without actually paying much attention to it is alive and well in sectors other than movies and music.

  18. It sounds like you attack something you've never been a part of, but have o­nly watched from afar.  If you have ever been “geek-like”, or used these terms ( i.e. stfu, lol, rofl) in real life conversation.  Some of us do, some of us don't.  Mind you, I also say things like holla, shizzle my nizzle, and various other terms, which in my opinion are no different than stfu, lol, rofl.
    Honestly, those acronyms are a flagship for this culture, and Little-Gamers uses them damn effectively, and accurately in their application towards conversation. Hah, and it also saves o­n typing space.
    But you attack the culture, or nature of this comic, without what it seems any experience with these people or their way of life…The acronyms you seem to hate are the same as ebonics…they're just a flagship.

  19. Now really. I am an intelligent human being. When I first read the comic, I was a bit put-off by the black and white line drawings. I mean, when you can look at full-color comics just as easily, why bother? But look back to their archives. How many artists can make such a wide array of facial expressions and/or feelings on a character that only has BLACK DOTS AS EYES? Their simplistic style is a nice break from the norm.
    If you wish to bash them for their gamer-style language and attitude, then, fine. I actually like it. Some may not. But do not bash them for their artistic style. It is simplistic. Would you say someone whose house is styled that way, simplitstic, who does not have much furniture or any paintings or rugs is not a person worth knowing? This is the same thing. Take time out and really look at this comic. Get to know it. Because it is great.

  20. I once did a webcomic that a formula that was very similar to the one used in Little Gamers (before I had ever heard of LG) – two guys who play ‘net games constantly, and therefore, use an obnoxious amount of 133t speak.

    Now, I don’t know if this is the case, but did you even take into consideration that the authors have their characters use 1337-speak not because that is how they speak themselves, but to mock the people who do? That is what I was doing in my strip – the characters would say things like, “sux0rz! I pk0rz j00!” when I never say such things, but rather enjoy making fun of those who do (and who do so seriously).

    Perhaps if you took a little more time to try and understand the point of the comic, your opinion might have been a little different.

  21. HAHAH!  Mike, you hit the bullseye with this o­ne.  That anyone would have to read up to 10 of these comics to come to the conclusion that LG is terrible boggles my mind.  LG is a pathetic comic, and I am baffled as to how it has gotten the fan support that it has.  Reading this comic is comparable to putting your brain into a blender, then pouring the mush back into your head, and using that to think with.  What's so different or unique about this comic?  That it bashes Americans?  Guess what:  it does it poorly, and frankly, the best bashers of Americans are Americans, and they don't have to stoop to the intellectual vapidity that this comic does.  Maybe it's the drawing style that makes it different and unique?  Well, if drawing characters that look like LEGO figurines somehow qualifies this as art, then I guess any kind of stupid squiggle o­n a piece of paper falls under that category.  How about the “witty” repartee that goes o­n between the two characters?  I had absolutely no idea that consistently misspelled English and leetspeak somehow qualified as being even remotely intelligent.  Face it, LG sucks:  it's the comic equivalent of a cross between “Dude, Where's My Car” and “Gigli.”  By implication, the creators suck as well (most especially Mr. Madsen, who is nothing but an internet bully).  And Mike, don't let these bellyaching losers get to you (especially the Europeans – I had no idea you guys had such thin skins): they are too blind to see how bad this comic truly is.

  22. wow, i had no idea that there were so many angry LG fans.  o­ne thing i've noticed about you all is how unbelievably intolerant you are of other people's opinions.  most of you guys are just launching ad hominem attacks o­n the writer of the article, and the rest you castigate him for not liking the comic because of whatever reason.  this guy didn't like LG, and he didn't like it a lot, and he provided many reasons for why he didn't.  he explained himself – a lot more than many of you replying here have done.  and wtf is all this stuff about bush appearing here for?  where did the writer even mention politics?  maybe you guys are just reflecting your own political prejudices here, and impressing them o­n the article?  and since when does the writer have to be european in order to criticize a webcomic made by europeans?  that kind of reasoning sounds pretty racist to me.  you guys really need to learn to tolerate other people's opinions – not everyone is going to like LG, and some may have reason to dislike it a lot.  deal with it – that's what comes with the idea of freedom of speech (look it up sometime; most of you posting here need a refresher o­n it).  and most surprising are the europeans, who don't want to seem to tolerate any kind of dissent at all – after looking at your responses, i'm beginning to understand why the nazis originated in europe, instead of elsewhere.

  23. So that’s a 27-1 ratio on good comments to bad.

    pwned!!1!one!!1

  24. Well, I think we've heard both sides of the story here.

    Side 1:

    This comic is horrible. Not o­ne person should read it unless they're a complete nerd who has no time o­n their hands and makes fun of everything around him. It deserves nothing for being o­n the internet but a swift kick in the ass and shutting the door o­n their faces. It built a huge fanbase o­n huge dumbass jokes that have no quality whatsoever. The artists spend no time o­n their work, and just steal it from ideas that someone else already had. They're annoying, stupid, loud people and should have never tried to start this comic

    Side 2:

    This comic is brillant! It keeps you intrested and wanting to read more. Some of the strips attack social issues, and you're just picking o­n the writers and how they think. They dont spend a lot of time writing the comic, and even base it o­n their own experences, and that is truly what makes it good! The art is basic, but thats what makes the comic funny! (More Stuff Here..)

    For some reason, you feel it is painful to read through a comic that has been around for a couple of years now, and didnt even give it a chance. As soon as you seen the art you went “Oh..This Sucks..”..But if you actually think about the content of the comic, it relates perfectly to a specific group of people. Gamers. They're not targeting cynical comic reviewers who just have to tear apart the comic and find out whats wrong with it, or someone who needs to find somthing tasteful to read. Its targeting gamers. Funden and Madsen didn't build this comic to have someone tear it apart and nitpick it. They built it to have a little fun o­n the side of they're “Normal” lives. I know I dont devote my life to reviewing games, but its a fun thing to do o­n the side when you have nothing better to do. As I said earlier, I'm a gamer, and I find this comic quite funny when it comes to gaming. So why do people say “Wow..This comic sucks..Just wise up everyone”, or “Wow..this comic rules..why dont you like it?”

    Everyone is entitled to their opinion..of course..but why put down others? No Reason? To Try To Make Yourself Look Good? I find Mr. Whitney's article to be very well written, and he states his opinion well. But before you just look at someones review and swear by their opinion, reguardless of whor or what it is, why dont you experence little gamers for yourself?

    http://www.little-gamers.com

    Then you can form your OWN opinion o­n it..Then read the opinions.

    Dont take sides until you've heard their opinions

    But Anyway, To Summerize

    Side #1: This Comic Sucks
    Side #2: Fuck You

    –Ronin F

  25. Isn’t there a rule which states that once one side equates the other with the Nazis, the flame war is officially declared pointless, and subsequently ended before any real damage is done?

  26. Apparently, your article didn't hit the road with this audience, Mike… but don't feel sad, because:
    WE SALUTE YOU!
    I'm sure that Madsen&Christian would agree with me o­n this o­ne 😉
    Peace out,
    SentiNel.

  27. I was tempted to create an account at this site in order to post this, but with reviews like this one, I can’t justify sharing my personal information with your servers.

    The above review was quite possibly the worst I’ve read in years; it’s only saving grace is the fact that (while insulting a pair of Swedes for their poor command of the english language) you managed to stay within the bounds of grammatical correctness and accurate spelling. Kudos to you.

    You complain of childishness and a lack of etiquette, yet go on to insults a comics readership. Their readership? That’s an unconscionably low blow, and I sincerely hope you recognize your error and at least make an attempt at reparations.

    You also mentioned the lack of color being a detractor from the aesthetic appeal of the comic, except for rare instances wherein color is employed. Newspapers, with millions of readers, employ the same tactic. They only offer a colored (as well as larger-format) version of the comics they syndicate once per week, and even then, not all of the dailies are carried in the weekly color pages.

    Another criticism you expressed that I’d like to take issue with is their use of relatively simplistic lineart. Don’t most comics in the aforementioned papers also employ similar tactics? The use of unshaded lineart, in this case, leaves a completed piece that is crisp, pleasing to the eye, and quick in production. I much prefer this style to, say, Robot Stories (a color comic with an incomprehensible storyline and busy, oversaturated artwork).

    In closing, I’d like to remind you that, as a journalist, you have a duty to keep your personal emotions out of your writing. Your job is to present unbiased reviews, not this rather poisonous invective you seem to employ instead.

    And please, lose the tired and/or stretched metaphors. They make you sound like a fool.

  28. All I can say is: you gotta get a life.

    quote: If you've ever been in an o­nline game, you've probably watched two barely literate guys duke it out using the chat functions.

    barely literate? okay… The authors of the web comic little gamers are Swedish. o­nce you're able to create a sucessful web comic, in swedish, then you'll earn the right to talk, but mean while you don't have any right.

    quote, again:
    If you've seen that, then Little Gamers will seem familiar. The strip often reads like o­ne of those geek battles, complete with the requisite “STFUs”, “LOLs”, missing punctuation and the teenage comedy law that it's funny (for some reason) when someone or something is gay.

    peotry doesn't need punctuation, so neither does real art. I guess you don't have any taste in real art.

  29. i didn't know that having to speak swedish was a requirement to be able to criticize the english in LG.  but then, such flawed thinking is alien to me.

    and as far as poetry or real art, LG isn't either.  calling that poetry or art is like calling “jackass: the movie” worthy of oscar contention.

  30. Most of the people who have replied to this review make me laugh. They also make me sad, very sad, at the state of the modern human race. It will be a good day when the world explodes in a flaming ball of gas.

  31. 1: Write me a comic in your second language – should be a laugh.
    2: Ask the site to start a rally for you. I’m sure many would be willing to contribute towards the surgery for getting the stick removed.
    3: Quit the Pseudo Intellectual bullshit, you’re not fooling anyone. Its harmless fun, written by two laid back guys with a sense of humour. I’m sure if you ask them nicely they’ll help you develop one.

  32. This:” The only applicable measure of its quality is the way that it affects its audience, and, by that standard, Little Gamers is a roaring success.” is about the only true thing that makes any sense in this entire article. If you’re not measuring the quality of something on whether people like it or not, what the hell are you measuring it on? If one person likes a silent film with stick figures, then good for them. Why are you trying to tear them down and telling them that their opinions don’t matter or that yours are superior to theirs? Why don’t you look at it for what it is? It’s a unique comic with a unique style, and plenty of people like it. In fact, 90% of the people who have read this article are those that have come from the link at Little Gamers. I bet all your articles are about tearing down, mocking, and making jokes about how bad other people’s works are so that you can draw their fans into reading the garbage you produce. Reviewers like you really serve no purpose other than to feed off of other people’s work in order to make a living or get fans of their own. We don’t need people like you.

  33. I think it’s unfortunate that most people didn’t really read what Michael wrote. In fact the last paragraph seems kind of ironic when you consider how LG fans have reacted.

    Actually, after reading today’s LG I have a feeling that he was a bit too generous.

  34. What’s your view on what he said? Because to me and most of the people I know, it would seem as if he’s insulting them on their art style and humor, as well as, insulting their readers. If you’d like an example, check the first line where he starts out by comparing it to “barely literate guys” quarreling in a game using chat functions. If you don’t feel that he’s doing this, please, enlighten us.

  35. Quote:
    In fact the last paragraph seems kind of ironic when you consider how LG fans have reacted.

    Quote: (Main article. Last paragraph)
    If you spend your nights playing games and insulting your friends, you’ll probably love this webcomic.

    Well for starters I do not find pleasure in insulting my friends so this seems a bit presumptious as well as assuming that the only people that read it spend their nights playing games. As has been said by a few comments not everyone that reads it plays games. Not everyone spends their nights at home on their PC. Hell. I’m sure even Fundin and Madsen spend a lot of nights out on the town like most people.
    So how I interpret what you said about the last paragraph is that it should be a compliment to the fans of little gamers. I think not.

  36. Review – ‘To write or give a critical report on’

    This is meant to be a review? It seems to be more of a “nerds’ table slap fight moved from the high school cafeteria to the Internet” with Michael Whitney making the first move..

    “Teenage boys eat this stuff up like Pac-Man on Tic Tacs”

    Just a tip for the future if you are to continue writing and publishing, whether it be online or in print.. Blatant sexist comments like the above statement are politically incorrect and highly offensive..

    – Girl geek and fan of lg

  37. Ok, you seem to be critisising the simplistic artwork of the strip, because they have actually decided to be original, something you don’t see much of anymore on the Internet

  38. Ok, you seem to be critisising the simplistic artwork of the strip, because they have actually decided to be original, something you don't see much of anymore o­n the Internet. When you've read o­ne too many sprite comic or Penny Arcade style comic, LG is a great comic to read and have a chuckle at. If you actually had a less narrow perspective of comedy and humour, you would see that it is actually funny, wench.

  39. I always thought that journalism is about being neutral and objective view. Oh well I guess I was wrong. You bash LG for using words such as “LOL” and “STFU” which are “internet slangs” well guess what? LG is <b>web</b>comic so it's just like you using words such as “Cool!” or “Dope!” in that style. Talking about style you bash LG about their art style as well. Yes I do agree that some people have in past “stolen” their artstyle. But DO YOU KNOW WHY? Because artstyle of LG is quite unique in the sea of webcomics floating around o­n the net. You said “the total style gives the strip a slapdash, half-hearted feel, like a o­ne line forum post with no capital letters and three actual English words” half-hearted you say? May I ask how many comics you've read there. There are over 700 strips at LG. It's quite obvious that there are ups and downs. Just like even a great actor/ess who won academy awards can make a bad movie. To finish up my 2 cents, if you have nerve to bash their english, PLEASE speak Swedish so that Swedes can understand it. I doubt that you can do that o­n fly. Treat people as you want to be treated.

    – Prometheus

  40. What the Fuck makes you think the comic is made to bash americans? They've had a couple of strips where they diss yankees and uncle Dubya, everyone's done that! 
    And you too, why do you start mocking someones english? Because they, *cough* BULSHIT *cough*, can't speak/read or write your native language as good as you?  Does that really make someone or someones writing worse, huh? Even if you get their point, apparently you dont.

    And the you attack the creators o­n a personal level? Do you even know them!? Has Christian or Pontus said something bad tou you o­n the internet or o­n THEIR icr-channel?  Something that made you cry and run to your momma?  Does it bother you´so much that they have something you dont!?

    “Mike, don't let these bellyaching losers get to you (especially the Europeans – I had no idea you guys had such thin skins): they are too blind to see how bad this comic truly is.”
    Sweet jesus how sad can you get!?  If we like something you don't, then we're “blind” and “losers? Grow up kid. Get yourself an education, find yourself a girlfriend and unplug your computer from the net so we don't have to hear of you again.

    Lg-fan / Finland/Helsinki … YES IT'S IN EUROPE! So suck my balls!

  41. There's o­ne word that essentially defines why the reviewer shouldn't have done that piece: irony.
    He obviously doesn't understand the strip, he also doesnt seem to have read the comics right through the archive.

    Satire, irony, it just doesn't translate into American; or does it?
    You wouldn't be able to tell  by reading that review. I personally would be interested in how many extra hits you have been recieving, after all the LG readers came to see what the fuss was all about.

    As a journalist myself i think the article was well researched and hideously biased, please stick to rimming all the lameass 'comix' you know and love.

    thx, bye. fskers

  42. Michael Whitney,

    Congratulations on standing up and giving your honest opinion of a very popular comic, even when you knew (and accurately forecast in your last paragraph) that the comic creator was a rabid reactionist that routinely turns his readership — MENSA members all — onto people like a junkyard owner with a pen full of pit bulls.

    The LG fanbase has not failed to disappoint, by slamming you with the largest assemblage of drooling and incoherent ranting I’ve ever seen anywhere this side of an Ann Coulter fan club meeting.

    You’ve got both guts and the ability to spell, putting you miles ahead of any other poster on this page.

    Hats off, man.

    P.S.: You’re not wrong, either. Little Gamers makes “Ziggy” look good.

  43. Quick question: why the hell does English not being somebodys first langage excuse them for writing utter shit? Everyone’s like “I’d like to see u rite a comik in sweedish you dikhed,” which is just retarded. Just because there first langage isnt English doesnt mean I can write stupid crap in Swahili and expect all the Swahilis to fall all over me like some sort of literary genius.

    If they wrote a comic in Swedish it would probably be even less funny because their comically poor grasp of English would not be there and we would be left with a big pile of dumb.

  44. I concur.
    Little Gamers is funny and sharp, written to appeal to certain types of people.
    L33T humor may not be funny to everyone, but to the audience of this comic its a simple and above all RANDOM way to make people laugh!
    As to the “ghei” references, no gay man or woman would take offence to that, its a JOKE! The characters in a comic do not reflect what REAL PEOPLE should be like….Its ESCAPISM!

    God forbid someone try to have stylised artwork and writing for a SPECIFIC audience.
    Oh and I feel these gentlemen are allowed the odd spelling mistake or incorrect punctuation as they are NOT AMERICAN or ENGLISH .

  45. LG is an interesting and very funny comic. Although I can't quite see why everyone is getting so worked up over an oppinion. Madsen isn't… But some of your comments certainly caught my attention. Firstly, the people who bash the Americans best are in fact not the Americans. They are the English, it's really awful to know that, because of the American film industry, most children in England start off thinking that the Americans won the Battle of Hastings. Which was in 1066. Oddly enough America did not exist then. Secondly, as an actual cartoonist myself, it pisses me off immensely when people o­nly read a comic because of the art. Important peice of information for you: If you need flashy art to make a comic be read, then you suck, simple as that. Lastly, I'm no fan of “leet”, but your comments about mis-spelt English are amazing. Especially since American's butcher the English language. COLOUR HAS A “U” DAMMIT! I know that I'm going to get a nice, fun flaming for this…. But I don't rightly care… I've said my peice

  46. Quite honestly, people have their own opinions, but so do the owners of little gamers. Its what they want to do, its how they want to create it. Ya we find it funny so what? We're teenagers. We know whats right from wrong, ya we use internet “slang” doesn't mean we use it in every day life. So they use a real basic drawing technique. Thats what makes it awsome. Everyone in the long run “copys” from someone else. No o­ne can help that. There are a few people who will think a like. Can't critize them for that. They poke fun at people, so does everyone else, including adults, look at what your doing. Your, in a matter of speaking “poking fun” at them. Crude, rude and just down right wrong. Dude. I love little gamers. Its easy, its fun, and they put time into it. ANd if you think their bad, get out and listen to some of the “real” conversations. They're just as/worse as any o­ne else.  o­n a side note :The Cute Ninjas Rule, as well as the Poking Stick

    Lover of Little Gamers!

  47. Alright, keep in mind that these guys are SWEDISH and not American. Would it be easy for you to write a comic 100%  grammatically correct in a foriegn language, oh, such as French? Alright, maybe they know more english than you do french, but it's still not their native language.

    Their form of art, also, is rather unique, however simple. This is what separates Little Gamers apart from other web comics. It still looks quite good, and takes a helluva lot less time and looks hella good, therefore leaving more time for them to produce more comics (as you can see, they update just about everyday unlike other webcomics out there). It takes time and a certain amount of effort to put a webcomic together, and they still do it (on top of their regular jobs, Christian's Tekken games and Madsen's FFXI). I'd like to see you churn up an amusing and well-drawn comic every single day o­n top of your regular job and whatever else you may do.

    Also, it is quite obvious that they bash selected people/groups (such as they did to you here) but who says you can't use a your personal web comic to vent your frustrations/ideas about others? It seems to work in getting them a fanbase.

    Overall, as you can see, I agree with some points of your review but disagree with a lot of them also. The truth is, for me anyway, that little-gamers r0><0r5 (and yes, that was l33t, don't use it against me). So Madsen isn't the greatest speller in the world. So their art isn't as great as that of Megatokyo, for example. So they use IRC noob-style expressions like LOL and STFU (that sometimes just adds to the humor). I really don't care, and, coming from a geek/gamer/amateur web comic artist point of view, Little Gamers can be just damn funny. That's the kind of fanbase they're probably trying to get, too. People who know what they're talking about in the strip. Not to mention their character designs are tres kawaii. Oh, and the design of Marcus's face (more specifically the nose) is different than that of Madsen's, not just the hat.

    Simple comics (such as Ziggy) can be just as funny if not funnier than more complex comics, such as, oh, Doonsbury. But hell, that's just my opinion. 😀

    -Leeland

  48. Okay, this is going to be all the way at the bottom and I’m sure no one cares much anyway. But from a Bush-loving, non-gun-toting, non-nerd and (mostly) non-gaming woman in America…LG is funny and I read it every day. Even if you don’t fall into the group referred to in the article (I’m nearing 30, btw), some of us enjoy it for just the same reasons offered as negatives.

    Here’s a clue for you, Mr. Whitney. Not all of us have your same sense of humor. Pick up Webster’s sometime and look up the definition of “review” and then “opinion.” I think you may find a difference between the two.

    For the general populace: If you haven’t read it, start from the beginning and give it a shot. It’s not for everyone, but hey, it’s just a webcomic, and what have you lost by giving it a read?

    If you’ve read it don’t like it…

    Don’t read it anymore and stop wasting the bandwidth for the rest of us who enjoy it, wench.

  49. I really love the style they have, its so simple, so basic.. I like that! Not all this crappy put-one-comic-full-of-visual-effects-so-the-comic-is-practically-unreadable.
    Offcourse I like other styles too, ctrl alt delete for an example has a great style in a combo with humor and emotions. Offcourse you may say what you think. But what you are saying is not a fact, it’s just your look at it. And you bring it like it is a fact . That means one thing: You can’t review, go play a game or something. Cause there is one golden rule of reviewing that you seem to be forgotten.

  50. After sifting through that ridiculous flame war, I began to wonder a few things. I like Little Gamers, I’ve read it for awhile now, and it’s on the list of webcomics I regularly read. Am I the only fan of the strip that didn’t see this review as either an attack, or even really as a negative review?

    So he called the use of “1337” geek battles, so what? He doesn’t say being a geek is a bad thing, but anyone who has played multiplayer games realizes that those communities are full of people who toss around those commonly used lame insults Whitney mentions. A few of the other comments are also true, they do frequently “rally their troops”, their style is simple, their jokes are “dude jokes” or “gay jokes” or “geek” jokes. So what? I still think those are funny, I’m not ashamed of thinking “Dude, stfu, ur ghey!” is funny. A lot of the attacks on Whitney seem to be over comments he made as jokes, which is amusing to me considering that such comments would probably be acceptable, and laughed at, if they were presented in comic form. Some, scratch that, a vast number, of jokes are built on stereotypes, get over it.

    As for the Playmobil comment, he doesn’t say the design is stolen, he just says it looks similar. And you know what? It does. I actually laughed while I was reading this article because I remember back to when I owned some of those toys, and realized there is a humorous similarity between them. I like Little Gamers art, but can you really argue it’s not simplistic? He didn’t say that was a bad thing. Plenty of good comics have simple styles, and are drawn that way not because the artist can’t draw, but because they prefer it. The comments on grammar and/or spelling I didn’t think were attacks on the writers not having english as their first language, but on how gamers actually talk “in-game”, and how the strip uses that. When was the last time you had a profound and eloquent counter-strike conversation?

    And in the end, while it does seem like he, personally, doesn’t like the strip, it doesn’t really sound like he’s dissing it either. The line “The only applicable measure of its quality is the way that it affects its audience, and, by that standard, Little Gamers is a roaring success.” would even suggest otherwise. The sheer amount of comments attacking the writer makes me wonder how many people even bothered to read the review, and finish it. I think it’s a shame that you can have such fallout, and such mindless retaliation leveled against you, just for expressing your honest opinion.

  51. Are you serious? The difference between “review” and “opinion”, when related to something subjective like whether or not you’ll find a game, movie, or comic enjoyable? Reviews are criticism, criticism is a judgement, and in the end, a judgement is an opinion. I enjoy little gamers for the reasons everyone seems to have interpreted as negatives, but I also can understand why other wouldn’t. I think attacking the author here is both unneccessary and uncalled for.

  52. I'm a fan of LG for some time now and I think that this review gives a bad impression about what's really the main issue of LG : HUMOR

    Since when does humor has to be eye-candy?
    Because of their basic lay-out and character design they can make a quick little cartoon when something happens , so there usually up to date with stuff. I'm not sitting around waiting for the best details and nice happy colours to entertain me. Like a game , it's not the graphics but the gameplay that makes or brakes the game.
    But I guess that when you have time to like check in o­nce a year for a single comic to be completed then mayby this <url>http://www.anry.ru/gallery/devastation/devastation.jpg</img&gt; can satisfy your eye-candy need.

    Since when does humor not include insults?

    Making fun of people is a standard thing in humor , every comedian or every person who thinks that he is does it. And the next to you see a fat lady down the street and you make a remark about it to your friends remember that.

    Gtz

    Cerberus

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