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Penny Arcade - Comic - Lil’ Heretics

DogDog Registered User, Administrator, Vanilla Staff admin
edited May 2018 in The Penny Arcade Hub

imagePenny Arcade - Comic - Lil’ Heretics

Videogaming-related online strip by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins. Includes news and commentary.

Read the full story here


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Posts

  • Anon von ZilchAnon von Zilch Registered User regular
    How about the Tau? They're good? Ish?

  • EnlongEnlong Registered User regular
    Make happy kids books about the human empire. Which happen to be in-Universe propaganda, as will be mentioned in the books/games meant for older audiences.

  • TheSchaefTheSchaef Registered User regular
    I'll say this, your second panel really captures the visual design theme running through recent Cartoon Network offerings

    #NotMyThundercats

  • SadgasmSadgasm Deluded doodler A cold placeRegistered User regular
    How about the Tau? They're good? Ish?

    By the incredibly low standards of the setting maybe, but they're essentially space communists who commit ethnic cleansings against other species that dont fit their narrative. Which is better than the Imperiums "kill literally everyone", but not by much

  • Skull2185Skull2185 Registered User regular
    Is this a thing that's actually happening? I'm all for it! Replace school lesson plans with 40K courses, teach the kids while they're young. I didn't discover how cool this universe was until well into adulthood, and that was a lot of lore to catch up on...

    Everyone has a price. Throw enough gold around and someone will risk disintegration.
  • E.CoyoteE.Coyote Registered User regular
    edited May 2018
    Friendship is magic.
    and magic is heresy.

    E.Coyote on
  • lionheartssjlionheartssj Bartertown Chief Merchant BartertownRegistered User regular
    E.Coyote wrote: »
    Friendship is magic.
    and magic is heresy.

    Perfect.

  • lionheartssjlionheartssj Bartertown Chief Merchant BartertownRegistered User regular
    TheSchaef wrote: »
    I'll say this, your second panel really captures the visual design theme running through recent Cartoon Network offerings

    #NotMyThundercats

    2nd panel is still too detailed for modern CN offerings.

  • TofystedethTofystedeth Registered User regular
    edited May 2018
    Yeah okay. 2nd panel sold me. I'd watch a WH40K show by the Steven Universe crew.

    Tofystedeth on
    steam_sig.png
  • tastydonutstastydonuts Registered User regular
    The tonal dissonance is what adds commercial viability. I'd watch.

    “I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
  • DarkPrimusDarkPrimus Registered User regular
    TheSchaef wrote: »
    I'll say this, your second panel really captures the visual design theme running through recent Cartoon Network offerings

    #NotMyThundercats

    The second panel is mocking folks who are using that hashtag seriously.

  • Golden YakGolden Yak Burnished Bovine The sunny beaches of CanadaRegistered User regular
    In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only friendship.

    H9f4bVe.png
  • MarathonMarathon Registered User regular
    Hugs for the hug god

  • Golden YakGolden Yak Burnished Bovine The sunny beaches of CanadaRegistered User regular
    edited May 2018
    The books are here, in case anyone was wondering:

    https://warhammeradventures.com/warhammer-40000/

    Those little dickens look just adorable.

    And man, you know they're gonna do a story where the kids save a baby Hive Tyrant, and then it comes back to save them when they're cornered by hostile tyranids, and it looks back at them mournfully one final time before rejoining the Hive Fleet. And I would buy the hell out of that book.

    Golden Yak on
    H9f4bVe.png
  • Commander ZoomCommander Zoom Registered User regular
    Marathon wrote: »
    Hugs for the hug god

    SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE™ PLAYSET!
    (sold separately)

  • dennisdennis aka bingley Registered User regular
    TheSchaef wrote: »
    I'll say this, your second panel really captures the visual design theme running through recent Cartoon Network offerings

    #NotMyThundercats

    2nd panel is still too detailed for modern CN offerings.

    p80Kmu9.jpg

    Sometimes I prefer less detail.

  • JackJack Registered User regular
    This is the reaction I had to the news.

    Then I remembered I was 12 when I started playing Warhammer 40K.

  • tastydonutstastydonuts Registered User regular
    edited May 2018
    That's... some real post-nickelodeon R&S action right there... creative freedom to make outright "adult" jokes did not do John Kricfalusi a favor.

    tastydonuts on
    “I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
  • EnlongEnlong Registered User regular
    DarkPrimus wrote: »
    TheSchaef wrote: »
    I'll say this, your second panel really captures the visual design theme running through recent Cartoon Network offerings

    #NotMyThundercats

    The second panel is mocking folks who are using that hashtag seriously.

    Pretty sure the joke is not interacting with that at all, and is just "really? Cartoony 40k?"

  • Twenty SidedTwenty Sided Registered User regular
    edited May 2018
    The idea of WH40K books for young children makes me think it'd be in-universe Imperial indoctrination and propaganda.
    Children must be properly inculcated from an early age to keep faith in The God Emperor.
    Mistrust the vile blasphemers, mutants and aliens. Young Citizen, if you should meet one of these creatures, report them to the nearest Arbites.
    Remember, keeping the Imperium safe starts at the homefront!

    Twenty Sided on
  • islingtonislington Registered User regular
    So im kinda confused by the whole idea, I mean I got into Warhammer/40k (both not either) when I was young enough to still think Shannara and Xanth were the epitomy of world building. Young Adult seems redundant in that context unless we're calling 8 y/o's young adults now... It just doesn't seem necessary.

  • DarkPrimusDarkPrimus Registered User regular
    islington wrote: »
    So im kinda confused by the whole idea, I mean I got into Warhammer/40k (both not either) when I was young enough to still think Shannara and Xanth were the epitomy of world building. Young Adult seems redundant in that context unless we're calling 8 y/o's young adults now... It just doesn't seem necessary.

    "Young Adult" has been used in publishing to mean 8-14 year olds for... well, a good long while.

  • tastydonutstastydonuts Registered User regular
    edited May 2018
    I think that it's more 8 - early 20s, depending on the author and themes present?

    tastydonuts on
    “I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
  • Golden YakGolden Yak Burnished Bovine The sunny beaches of CanadaRegistered User regular
    I know when I was around 14-15 Warhammer was fuggin' captivating to me. I set foot in a Games Workshop and it was like a candy store made of awesome artwork and cool models with rad paint jobs - to the max, dawg! Youthspeak!

    If there's any misstep in this book series, it might be making the main characters children. This could be a 'kids don't want to be Robin they want to be Batman' situation. But I might be wrong, things worked out great with the Harry Potter model; I was older and less interested in the young reader stuff by the time that really took off, maybe kids are more into characters their own age than I was when I was a kid.

    H9f4bVe.png
  • Twenty SidedTwenty Sided Registered User regular
    edited May 2018
    Golden Yak wrote: »
    I know when I was around 14-15 Warhammer was fuggin' captivating to me. I set foot in a Games Workshop and it was like a candy store made of awesome artwork and cool models with rad paint jobs - to the max, dawg! Youthspeak!

    If there's any misstep in this book series, it might be making the main characters children. This could be a 'kids don't want to be Robin they want to be Batman' situation. But I might be wrong, things worked out great with the Harry Potter model; I was older and less interested in the young reader stuff by the time that really took off, maybe kids are more into characters their own age than I was when I was a kid.

    Oh I'm looking at those character descriptions and just thinking how out-of-place and optimistic they are for 40K.

    https://warhammeradventures.com/warhammer-40000/

    Mekki is a talented Martian inventor! Commits tech heresy, or at the very least, very gauche and inappropriate tech butchery!
    He's also hard on himself! FOR THE FLESH IS WEAK!

    Zelia is a bright-eyed young explorer who reviles weapons!
    HER MIND IS WEAK AND PRONE TO HERESY.

    Twenty Sided on
  • ThanatosiaThanatosia Registered User regular
    edited May 2018
    Wow, just wow.

    This reminds me so much of Saturday Morning Watchmen
    (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDDHHrt6l4w)

    Thanatosia on
  • H3KnucklesH3Knuckles But we decide which is right and which is an illusion.Registered User regular
    edited May 2018
    dennis wrote: »
    TheSchaef wrote: »
    I'll say this, your second panel really captures the visual design theme running through recent Cartoon Network offerings

    #NotMyThundercats

    2nd panel is still too detailed for modern CN offerings.

    p80Kmu9.jpg

    Sometimes I prefer less detail.

    Johnny K cartoon clip? Ruined childhood watermark?

    Talk about an unfortunate combination.

    H3Knuckles on
    If you're curious about my icon; it's an update of the early Lego Castle theme's "Black Falcons" faction.
    camo_sig2-400.png
  • H3KnucklesH3Knuckles But we decide which is right and which is an illusion.Registered User regular
    edited May 2018
    I want to start by emphasizing that I am absolutely not a "WH40K is serious business" kind of fan. My favorite incarnation of the fiction is the Caiaphas Cain book series precisely because it approaches the whole thing with a very tongue-in-cheek attitude. But I really think this is a bad idea. This is gonna get a little preachy, sorry in advance.
    The idea of WH40K books for young children makes me think it'd be in-universe Imperial indoctrination and propaganda.
    Children must be properly inculcated from an early age to keep faith in The God Emperor.
    Mistrust the vile blasphemers, mutants and aliens. Young Citizen, if you should meet one of these creatures, report them to the nearest Arbites.
    Remember, keeping the Imperium safe starts at the homefront!

    Like, I can get the appeal if they presented it that way, but my concern is that while a lot of media for 8-12 year olds (the identified target age range for these books) does underestimate their intelligence, I think 'recognizing propaganda as BS and enjoying it purely as satire' is maybe asking a bit much of typical elementary schoolers.
    Golden Yak wrote: »
    I know when I was around 14-15 Warhammer was fuggin' captivating to me. I set foot in a Games Workshop and it was like a candy store made of awesome artwork and cool models with rad paint jobs - to the max, dawg! Youthspeak!

    If there's any misstep in this book series, it might be making the main characters children. This could be a 'kids don't want to be Robin they want to be Batman' situation. But I might be wrong, things worked out great with the Harry Potter model; I was older and less interested in the young reader stuff by the time that really took off, maybe kids are more into characters their own age than I was when I was a kid.

    14-15 is like a whole different world from 8-12 though. I really think WH40K's setting is too fundamentally rooted in things that most kids under 13 shouldn't be exposed too. I'm not talking about gore or sex, where you can easily just not show it while telling basically the same story. I'm talking about complicated morality and being able to enjoy a series about a villain without becoming enamored of them (something teens and even adults don't do a great job of). Look at how a lot of silly geese have embraced Nolan & Ledger's take on the Joker, and remember that kids don't think about the media they consume as critically as grown ups do. Kids tend to take things at face value, whereas teens are much more likely to second-guess what they are shown/told.

    You might say "warhammer's so hyperbolic in how terrible everything is that it couldn't bleed over into their behavior or world views", and I'd say "I grew up with an aunt that didn't believe in evolution, believed humans were created in the literal biblical sense by God and have souls, except for black people" and that kind of extreme example made it easy for me to overlook the prejudice I'd learned growing up, right up until I experienced an unrelated personal crisis in my late teens and had to do a lot of soul-searching about what kind of person I was and start making changes. Lots of people who are part of America's racial problems in an every-day mundane sense are convinced they aren't racist merely because they aren't members of a white supremacy group. There's a risk in sheltering kids too much, but I feel like this falls well on the other side of the pendulum.

    TLDR: I just don't think very many kids that young are ready to handle a lot of the themes at play in WH40K.

    H3Knuckles on
    If you're curious about my icon; it's an update of the early Lego Castle theme's "Black Falcons" faction.
    camo_sig2-400.png
  • OctoberRavenOctoberRaven Plays fighting games for the story Skyeline Hotel Apartment 4ARegistered User regular
    I for one welcome this. It might become a trend and we'll see things like World of Darkness for kids.
    Coming in 2019: "Little Timmy's First Ashwood Abbey Meeting"

    Currently Most Hype For: VTMB2, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, Alan Wake 2 (Wake Harder)Currently Playin: Guilty Gear XX AC+R, Gat Out Of Hell
  • Golden YakGolden Yak Burnished Bovine The sunny beaches of CanadaRegistered User regular
    H3Knuckles wrote: »

    14-15 is like a whole different world from 8-12 though. I really think WH40K's setting is too fundamentally rooted in things that most kids under 13 shouldn't be exposed too. I'm not talking about gore or sex, where you can easily just not show it while telling basically the same story. I'm talking about complicated morality and being able to enjoy a series about a villain without becoming enamored of them (something teens and even adults don't do a great job of). Look at how a lot of silly geese have embraced Nolan & Ledger's take on the Joker, and remember that kids don't think about the media they consume as critically as grown ups do. Kids tend to take things at face value, whereas teens are much more likely to second-guess what they are shown/told.

    To be sure. Speaking of Batman, there's a big difference between campy 60s Batman and Dark Knight Batman - you wouldn't let a 10 year old watch the latter of course, but I don't think we should be afraid of showing kids the former for fear that they might follow it back to the latter. The first Star Wars book I read was a young readers story where Luke and co. save the space-whales - I'd be happy to now give that to my 9 year old niece without fear that she'll want to watch Rogue One.

    What first captivated me about Warhammer was never the dystopian lore or themes of overblown mock-facsim though, it was the visuals of giant space people and giant space monsters wailing on each other. It was a bunch of rad stuff to look at, the initial impression of the setting was cool space fighters against awesome looking aliens. I think the whole point of these books are an attempt to give kids some of that surface coolness without delving into the grittier stuff; going by the description of characters and factions, things feel very softened - the Necrons 'enslaved' the universe, rather than devouring the soul-energy of countless living worlds in thrall to eldritch space gods.

    I don't think kids will be exposed to the more mature themes of the setting because those themes are simply going to be excised in favor of a clearly black/white good vs. evil space adventure where the 'good' guys are actually good and the bad guys are way less scary, while retaining a lot of the visual style and appeal of the setting. Kids are getting 60s campy-hammer rather than Nolanhammer. They can have Nolanhammer when they're older.

    Now, it may still be a bad idea - this is unlike the Batman stuff because it's going the other route, starting off gritty and then building the kid-friendly version. I'm super interested to see if it works, and I suppose the sign of that will be if we get more than these two books.

    H9f4bVe.png
  • H3KnucklesH3Knuckles But we decide which is right and which is an illusion.Registered User regular
    edited May 2018
    I mean, I feel like the PA guys kinda just did a strip on what I'm talking about:
    i-5gtgCWZ-2100x20000.jpg

    It's not like the Thundercats thing. Cartoon Network tried a reboot that was true to what was cool about the original series back in 2011 and it failed to garner satisfactory ratings. So now they're trying a different thing, but it's intended to stand entirely on its own. They're not trying to get kids interested in the original 1980's cartoon or the 2011 show. They just want to make a successful work of entertainment that they can maybe sell some merchandising licenses for.

    But this book series is expressly being promoted as intended to start turning younger kids onto the larger Warhammer IP's. So either they're going to be introducing kids to content they're not really ready for, or they're going to have to change so much of what it is for the YA novels that there's not going to be a lot of crossover appeal left.

    H3Knuckles on
    If you're curious about my icon; it's an update of the early Lego Castle theme's "Black Falcons" faction.
    camo_sig2-400.png
  • Twenty SidedTwenty Sided Registered User regular
    edited May 2018
    H3Knuckles wrote: »
    Like, I can get the appeal if they presented it that way, but my concern is that while a lot of media for 8-12 year olds (the identified target age range for these books) does underestimate their intelligence, I think 'recognizing propaganda as BS and enjoying it purely as satire' is maybe asking a bit much of typical elementary schoolers.

    Oh, I agree, it'd be a total disaster. And it's partly why I think WH40k just doesn't work when targeted children.
    You could do it, but it ceases to be 40K. There's nothing that you can do that's both true to the source material and still be sanitized enough for consumption.

    Twenty Sided on
  • tastydonutstastydonuts Registered User regular
    oh, they're actually making Warhammer content targeted to children? I guess I should really read the text that accompanies the comics because I just thought that was the joke.

    “I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
  • AdventAdvent Registered User regular
    Bread for the bread god. Soup for the soup bowl.

  • Kane Red RobeKane Red Robe Master of Magic ArcanusRegistered User regular
    I read all kinds of age inappropriate stuff at the ages this is aimed at, the kids will be fine.

  • dennisdennis aka bingley Registered User regular
    Every second your kid is looking at W40K, they're not looking at pornography.

    Now that I type it out, I'm less sure that it's such a profound difference...

  • E.CoyoteE.Coyote Registered User regular
    edited May 2018
    Never google those things together. O.o

    E.Coyote on
  • MichaelLCMichaelLC In what furnace was thy brain? ChicagoRegistered User regular
    I find WD-40 improves both.

  • SailorGirlSailorGirl Registered User new member
    Am I the only one who thinks the guy in the middle panel looks like a grown up demented Steven Universe?

  • H3KnucklesH3Knuckles But we decide which is right and which is an illusion.Registered User regular
    SailorGirl wrote: »
    Am I the only one who thinks the guy in the middle panel looks like a grown up demented Steven Universe?

    I'm pretty sure that style is exactly what Gabe was aiming for.

    If you're curious about my icon; it's an update of the early Lego Castle theme's "Black Falcons" faction.
    camo_sig2-400.png
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