I couldn’t decide whether to preface this review with this Mallard Fillmore parody or this San Antonio Rock City. Both are not only extremely relevant, but far funnier than the webcomic I’m about to review.
Electronic Tigers, drawn by Hapajap and penned by him and El Gato Negro, is a political gaming manga. Sound familiar? It should, except Electronic Tigers manages to be even worse than Sore Thumbs. Wow, I’m astounded that I just compared Sore Thumbs favorably to something. Savor this moment, boys, because this is one of the very few accolades I’m going to give your comic.
Okay, by “very few,” I meant “two,” and the other one is the art. Hapajap clearly has a solid grasp on anatomy and expression, as well as the all-important ability to distort them for impact. His character designs are distinct and well-realized. He possesses a unique, punchy and delightfully cartoonish style, and he would be right at home doing professional work.
Whew, that's two panels done! I'm beat, guys!
Well, except for his annoying habit of copying and pasting. Even where it is not unabashedly apparent that he has reused art, it is clear that he has rotated, flipped or otherwise slightly modified existing art for a new panel. It could not be more obvious that Electronic Tigers is fabricated from templates, perhaps a set of 5-10 poses per character.
And Electronic Tigers suffers for Hapajap’s laziness. Characters seldom physically interact with each other (or even move); sometimes they don’t even directly face the characters they’re talking to. And so, no matter how much technical skill Hapajap brings to the table, Electronic Tigers invariably looks stiff, lifeless and dull.
Please, by all means, feel free to fap to me, so long as you feel really bad while you do!
Worse still is when Hapajap writes. He likes to make his strong political bent quite clear to the reader. This is a bad thing because political cartoons, like Christian rock, tend to be repugnant to anyone outside the target group, as well as many people inside it. Hapajap helps little by expending so much space on his hamfisted political manifestos that no room is left for a punchline. Too preachy to be funny and too crude to be convincing, Electronic Tigers’s political strips read more like GOP Ideology For Frances than an editorial spot in the New Yorker–or Hustler for that matter.
Its other offerings mostly deal with the nerdy male protagonists’ passes at the token female mascot–stop me if you’ve heard this before–who’s as geeky as they are, good at video games, and head-explodingly hot (literally). But make no mistake, this is no Mary Sue we’re dealing with. After all, she’s fallible (only with regard to politics, of course.) And it’s not like she’s just there to pander to lonely nerds; she’s got morals! Which is why she features prominently in all of Electronic Tigers’s advertising.
When Electronic Tigers isn’t touting good Judeo-Christian morality, it’s being hip, edgy and politically incorrect. Unfortunately, “politically incorrect” is up there with “lol random” as one of those things that writers think will make them instantly funny. They’re wrong. Drawing racist pictures does not automatically make you funny; drawing racist pictures just because you can might say some other things about you, though.
Of course, by their own admission, the writers aren’t actually that good at being offensive in the first place. Such baseless fronting is the cornerstone of Electronic Tigers’s M.O. as a whole–it parrots racial stereotypes and claims to understand them; it pokes fun at other gaming comics and then runs day after day of played-out nerd jokes. Electronic Tigers throws up a paper-thin veneer of fresh irreverence to mask its lack of originality, character or even humor. It wants to be Lisa Lampanelli, but it isn’t even Carrot Top.
You have no idea how right you are, Hapajap
And conveniently enough, if you don’t find Electronic Tigers funny, you’re just too thin-skinned. Nobody could possibly dislike the comic on its own merits (or lack thereof)–it’s just the evil oppressive PC regime trying to keep it down! Brainwashed, controversy-fearing drones should seek their laughs elsewhere. Like, you know, a comic that’s actually good.
(As an aside, if you only click one link in this post, click the one in the previous paragraph. The irony is glorious.)
Well, Hapajap, there’s the ’succinct’ review you wanted–hope it’s not too thin-skinned for you. I’ll leave all of you following along at home with a fun activity.
Fun for the whole nuclear family unit
EDIT: Hapajap is fiscally irresponsible and he pimps his characters out like a black stereotype written by himself, news at 11.
EDIT 2: Whoops, I misspelled ’succinct’! Also, clarification on the ‘jokes.’
Posted by Rex Dandycorn 
