TOTALLY RAD, DUDE!

A while back, I discovered a webcomic while browsing the ShittyWebcomics Discord server. I’ve found a lot of amazing comics in that community, met a lot of amazing people and Elpeocross is one of them. While exploring his sprawling and storied archive I found that there was no way to get any of these comics in a physical book. Yes, when something is on the interent that means it’s there forever. Sometimes. There have been Webcomics that were lost to time, remember the only reason the vault here exsists is becuase people other than me were saving my old George & Pin-Head comics. I’m not saying that will ever happen to Rad Dude, mostly because Elpeocross knows how to back up and archive his work better than I do, but also because it is very well loved, which is why I was perplexed to find that nobody had ever brought Rad Dude to print and make it readilly avaliable for all the Rad Dude fans to have in their homes. A travesty! I’m incredbly excited that we’ve finally reached the final stages of print. Right now we’re collecting fanmail to publish in the first issue, you can submit your questions to Ra********@****on.me!

The work of Elpeocross stands out among all his peers, because his comics refuse to conform while being as loud as possible. A lot of comics are described as “an inside joke”, Rad Dude is an inside joke that gets yelled in passerby’s faces. It’s offensive in a bait and swich sort of way. You look at Jhonny Hitler and his signature hat, expecting something you’d see in a John Patler comic and then he smiles and says something like this:

Saying there are a lot of webcomics about video games or “nerd culture” (hate this term) is not just an understaement, it’s pretty damn apparent for anyone who has had some regular internet access in the past 15 years. There are many webcomics about gamers or for gamers, but many all into this trap where the joke landing is based on “video game jokes”. Battletoads is hard, Pokemon is akin to cock fighting, “haha what if the mushroom in mario made him high”, the sort of things Dorkly and college humor sill think is funny. With Rad Dude having knowlege of gamer nonsense does help, but video games and “Gamer culture” isn’t the joke, it’s the setting. This is an underground comic’s take on 2000’s nostalgia while not trying to appeal to a mainstream audience and actively alinating them, which is what indie comics as a whole should be doing!

Calling Rad Dude a Video game Webcoimc is like saying Cerebus is an Aardvark comic. Yes, that is indeed what the comic is on the surface, but if you actually open it and read it you’ll see it’s more about a group of cartoon freinds who play video games with each other, brap on one another and live their best lives. What makes Rad Dude stand out, especially in indie comics today, is nothing feels as if it’s an obligation. There is no “very special episode” where they talk about an abortion or someone coming out as gay. Elpeocross is having fun and taking us along for the ride.

I’m beaming with pride as I tell people Rad Dude #1 will be avaliable, soon! We’re still collecting fanmail and putting on the finishing touches. Elpeocross and M.G. Patch especially have been working hard to make this a reality and I couldn’t ask for a better team to work with. Poor Elpeocross has even taken time during shifts to talk to us about adjustments, taking this as seriously as we do. The Big Chawhunga will be avaliabe from the Rad Comics Group and Atomicomics ! I can’t wait to get it in your hands!

– Z.R.D.R.