Comic:Dreamaniac
From CGWiki
| Dreamaniac | |
|---|---|
| {{{image}}} | |
| Artist: | Jake Courington/Dreamaniaccomic |
| Writer: | Jake Courington/Dreamaniaccomic |
| Characters: | {{{character}}} |
| Updates: | Every weekday. |
| Began: | July 7, 2008 |
| Ended: | Has yet to end. |
| Art style: | Comic strip. |
| Rating: | PG |
| Website | Website |
Contents |
Plot
Dreamaniac is a heavily embellished record of the artist's life. It is mostly joke-a-day comic with two five-comic-long plots thus far. The comic alternates random between actual comics, filler comics, and filler doodles. Jake is extremely aware of some of the common patterns and failings of many comics, and seeks to either subvert them or at least confront them honestly.
Characters
Main Characters
Jake
Jake is the Dreamaniac of the comic. Extremely creative, positive, and imaginative, Jake also happens to have Attention Defecit Disorder, which you'd probably notice. Jake has messy dark brown hair, brown eyes, and can always be recognized by his crescent moon t-shirt. He is seventeen years old. Jake created his first imaginary friend, Whippy, when he was six. Since then, he's had a metaphorical hurricane of thoughts and ideas occupying his brain, not to mention an appreciation and passion for anything that manages to capture his interest.
Gaming alias: Howler
Whippy
Jake's first and most prominant imaginary friend, recognizeable by his circular body and limbs, two black ears, and two very long prehensile tails with dots on the end. He's gone beyond the point of imaginary friend after eleven years; Jake believes he is the personification of his childhood, his innocence, and his happiness. Cute, fuzzy, and cartoonishly innocent, you can always expect Whippy to follow the most direct path to happiness and joy.
Andrew
One of Jake's two best friends. Age is 16. Andrew has a tendency to be slightly condescending, but is a good guy to have around despite this trait. He is recognizeable by his drooping blonde hair, Battletech shirt, and his tired outlook on life and school. Expert at Pokemon, gourmet cooking, and Battletech Firestorm. Tends to exibit ninja-esque tendencies, as exibited in his alter-ego. Before some of the recent changes in the artistic style, Andrew could be seen wearing a Smash Bros. t-shirt instead of a battletech shirt.
Gaming alias: Bug (sometimes IceBug)
Other Reoccuring Characters
Neil
A good friend of Jake's, although the two rarely see each other nowadays. Age is 16. He is recognizeable by his dark triforce t-shirt, short black hair, and plain white tennis shoes. Also, his skin is dark. Mechanical and technological genius, he is the first human to actually establish a second home on the moon. Expert at RPGs. Built both the UPS Batmotank, and the S.S. Refined Awesome airship. Recently redesigned said airship into the S.S Refined Awesome v.2.1
Gaming alias: Dott_irb
Amelia
Amelia is a very nice person who happens to be a violin prodigy. One of the few friends of Jake who also happens to be a girl. Despite her incredible skills in both music and school, she tends to be extremely modest. Jake dated her briefly, but the two of them decided they were better off as friends. Distinguishable by her music note T-Shirt.
Mark
Andrews younger brother. Somehow manages to be on a sugar rush even when he hasn't ingested any actual sugar. Loves dogs and puppies. One of the few characters to have a shirt that changes during most of his appearences. His gaming alias is Lolfish/Squishy/Squishyfish.
Jeraldo
The monster who lives under Jake's bed. After failing to meet his fathers expectations as a "scary and evil" monster, he was booted out of Jake's closet. Enjoys soft music and insects (he keeps Jake's room clear of bugs.) Loves soda pop.
The Beeps
The imaginary race that Jake created when he was five years old. Beeps would be indistinguishable from Whippy, except they do not have two prehensile tails. The exact number of Beeps that Jake can maintain is unknown, but is thought to be limitless. They keep a watch on Jake's subconcious mind through his closet. Apparently, when left alone, the Beeps hold "Beep moshes" in Jake's closet.
Rachel
Jake's younger sister and polar opposite. They don't have so much a "sibling rivalry" as they do a "sibling cold war."
The DCHS Anime Club
A group of extraordinarily nerdy people whom Jake has recently joined. They are all newcomers to the cast, but their distinctive personalities and quirks are sure to make them long runners within the comic.
Elliot
An intelligent, analytical, and snarky individual. Closet member of the Grammar Nazis. Tends to be Shelby's favorite punching bag, although she's very sorry when she realizes exactly how much she abuses him. An expert at Pokemon battles, like many members of anime club. Wears an olive-green coat, shiny black hair, and a pair of pretty cool glasses. Short and stocky, but don't let him hear you calling him 'short.'
Eric
A tall, stocky guy with awesome glasses, black hair, stubble, and more characters in his fanfiction then you could ever shake a stick at. Specializes in Eevee and it's evolutions in pokemon battles, and even more so in his fanfiction. Introduced Jake to the joys of pokemon fanfiction.
Shelby
She's ridiculously fun to have around, but this comes at the cost of frequent injury upon inciting her wrath. Which is fairly easily incited. Excellent artist, but terribly modest. Considering that her casual notebook doodles shine with raw awesomeness, you have to wonder if she's selling herself short. DON'T CALL HER A TSUNDERE.
Plots
While Dreamaniac is typically a gag-a-day comic, the comic has featured two small plot driven series.
Andrew's Closet Plot
Due to an infestation of nightmares in Andrew's closet, Jake, Andrew, Neil, and Mark all venture inside to cut them off at the source. Upon arriving in the interior, they find themselves looking out over a jungle that seems to stretch on to infinity. The group is split up, Jake going with Andrew, and Neil going off with Mark. The following comic follows Jake's duo, in which Jake explains his plan to get the group captured, and taken directly to the source of the nightmares by a local tribe. The plan succeeds but Jake runs out of ideas as to how to stop the nightmares, seeing as the group is tied upside-down to a pole. Fortunately, Andrew escapes using ninja abilities, and destroys the giant evil entity with a blast from his 100 ton Atlas, a giant, skull-headed mecha. The plot ends with Jake, speaking directly to the reader, announcing briefly that the closet was purged, and that the plot was over, before collapsing on a bed in his room.
The plot lasted a total of 6 comics, starting November 24, 2008, and ending January 28, 2009. The plot was done with a few fillers in between, and was ultimately and prematurely scrapped for a return to a gag-day format. Jake now considers that time period one of his greatest shames and prays that it won't be mentioned in conversation.
Capturing the Figments Plot
Jake's subconcious mind goes beserk due to his sister accidentally wandering into his closet and hitting the wrong switch. Jake's new friends from anime club, as well as most of his old allies.
In Jokes of the Cast
Jake's Closet
Jake's Closet, through unknown means, contains a direct portal to Jake's "Imagination" and subconcious mind. Due to this connection, Jake (despite his weirdness) is a much more stable individual then most, because he can literally confront any subconcious or unconcious conflict that would otherwise harm him. He occasionally has to go subdue his Nightmares by using his "Dreamaniac form."
Andrew's Closet
While similar to Jake's Closet in that it contains an extradimensional space, it has an entirely different purpose: the storage of lost objects. It is one of many pocket dimensions in the universe that automatically stores any objects that have been lost by humanity. Unfortunatley, this includes deadly traps, rolling boulders, and a still-alive Jimmy Hoffa. It is also rumored to contain objects such as the Illuminati Diamond and Babe Ruth's actual bat.
The UPS Battank!
One night in 2006, while going to a play, Jake, Neil, and Andrew began discussing what details might be involved in creating an Instantaneous Delivery System for UPS. Several tangents and one viewing of "Batman Begins" later, and Neil was inspired to actually create the UPS Battank. Currently, the UPS Battank can teleport to any spot in a five mile radius, travel at mach seven, activate an anti-grav device to clear traffic or other obstructions, and re-enter the earth's atmosphere intact. It is sometimes refered to as the UPS Bat-mo-tank, an obvious play on the style of the Bat-mobile in "Batman Begins".
Tropes
Jake, being a fan of tvtropes.com, frequently includes tropes in his comics. Though many are subtley used, a more obvious example is seen when Mark says "You just totally punched out Cthulu! Awesome!". A trope on tvtopes.com is titled, "You just totally punched out Cthulu!"
Meme Breakfast
Another conversation in 2009 resulted in the creation of the ultimate nerd breakfast. The items included Ohmnomnomlettes, Falcon Punch (SHOW ME YOUR MOVES!), and a bowl of Shoop-Da-Loops (now with 9001% MORE LAZORS, free Lolcat in every box). The breakfast was Mark approved.
Other Works by the Author
In addition to the comic, Jake also writes the Protrainer pokemon fanfic, which is featured on deviantart.com. Jake also owns a hubsite (http://www.dreamaniac.com), at which both his comic and deviantart account can be accessed.
Categories: Humor | Real Life | Rated PG
