Full Reviews of Diesel Sweeties

of Diesel Sweeties by R Stevens

I'm quite honestly surprised at the reaction this comic has gotten. I checked out Diesel Sweeties a year or more ago and revisited it again for this review. Now I'll admit this time around I only read the first 200 or so strips, but I don't think any more is necessary to get a strong idea of the comic.

Did this strip offend me? Not in the slightest. It's not a black hole that all webcomics should avoid emulating either. Personally, I found it rather bland.

Diesel Sweeties is a comic about an ex porn star, her robot lover and their various acquaintances. Typical strips will feature Maura & Clango joking about their sex life, Indie Pete failing in his efforts to be 'indie', Maura's sister dating a variety of men and a red robot who wants to kill all humans. The art is consistent and clear, and the text easy to read. It's not meant to be eye candy and it serves its function - illustrating the dialogue - perfectly well.

It's a gag a day strip that doesn't delve deeply into plot or characterization, which makes it a light strip that’s easy to pick up again if you happen to miss a few days. The writing style and jokes are very consistent from strip to strip.

I have no plans to return to this comic, simply because it doesn't catch my interest. I don't find the basic premise of a robot and a human having sex to be particularly shocking, thought provoking, amusing or offensive. I didn't find any of the characters especially interesting, enviable or even pitiful, and really didn't care what happened to them from strip to strip. While I did find a pun or ironic statement amusing in a few strips, overall, Diesel Sweeties isn't 'my' kind of funny.

The best way to decide if Diesel Sweeties is worth your time is to read 25-50 strips. Even if it doesn't become your favorite read, there are far worse ways to lose a few minutes.

Review by Karol Luis Tue May 25 2004 02:21 PM

I usually keep my eye on this thread, out of a lack of anything better to do occasionally. That and I try to stick my nose out there and check out a few webcomics.

Diesel Sweeties, I actually read this in the first year of Unicorn Jelly's creation. Reitz has a list of comic links she enjoys on her site somewhere. Diesel Sweeties was on the list.

I went and refreshed my memory - but obviously that was a waste of time. It was the same as before and utterly unrefreshing.

Storyline:
If it was there to help along the idea that swinging relationships between robots, pornstars and more where okay - then yes. There is a storyline. I like to believe myself to be a woman of intelligence. And such dirty base humor dedicated to the lowest common denominator amuses me not.

Artwork:
It's pixel art. What more can I say? It's at least originally done and not ripped, so effort IS seen there - I should think. But it's not eye catching, but I don't think the comic artist wanted it to be. It goes also with that 'automated' feel of this comic. So it fits.

Have to give points there pal.

Characters:
Stale. Flat. The only one I could possibly say that personally... had the most personality? 'Indie Rock Pete'. He was actually made things somewhat amusing. But then again - how far can you get with a porn star and a robot? Pretty far... but this possibly isn't the artist to accomplish the task. Interested in stuff about porn stars and other sickos? Go read Exploitation Now - it maybe dead. But its interesting!

Writing:
Want dry, dirty sex jokes and filthy barbs? Catch a few of the late nighter PGs in the Napping Cat Chat banter. Its highly entertaining and more worthy the effort as long as you keep a mature head and open eyes. Otherwise - stick to this comic.

Overall:
It wasn't worth it to me as a young impressionable teen. It ain't worth diddly squat now. I'm sorry... but all the flamewars and firestarters in the world could NOT get me to give this comic a score any higher than 1 out of 10 unless Diesel Sweeties was majorly overhauled.

----

As for the few of you who are continuing to polute this thread with childish tirades, for Heaven's sake give up! Cobra, dear. For all the women in the world you COULD punch - something like that really doesn't tie in with the maturity level of the Player Gods putting their comments in this thread. The United States allows free speech, as do several other 'first world' nations on Earth. The Dream, run by Furilius Pitch is somewhat the same way. As long as you respect your fellow players. So I ask that personally, for the sake of the Webcomic Book Club, the authors who get reviewed here and for Pitch to continue to run it... you need take a good long breather and remember to prepare yourself for harsh and truthful reviews on the webcomics presented here. Not everything shall be rainbows and teddy bears sir.

Good day.

Review by Oralee Hoa Wed May 12 2004 12:33 PM

A single, simply dressed woman walks into the room, a small file folder in her hands. She walks over to the presentation table, and lays the folder down without a word. Clearing her throat quietly, she looks at her fellow reviewers.

"I realize that I have never made and submitted a review to this august group, but having experienced the comic known as 'Diesel Sweeties' before, I felt that I must speak up on it,"

She opens the folder, pulling out a single sheet from it, then a small stack of them. Her eyes dart nervously around, as she has never been comfortable speaking to groups.

"First off, one of the other Gamers we used to compete against recommended this to us, back when we were still in Training. I read it then, at his recommendation. I was not impressed, really," Her eyes go flat, an obvious sign of her lack of admiration for the comic. "I have read most of the strips, off and on, so I have covered maybe sixty to seventy percent of the strip's life,"

Setting down the paper, she picks up the remaining sheets, which apparently contain her actual review. Flipping through them briefly to refamiliarize herself with her points, she looks back up at the assembled reviewers and the audience with her green gaze.

"First was Artwork. I'm not a real big fan of sprited comics, unless they are very well done, with as much detail as you can put into a sprite put into them. Unfortunately, this comic falls far short of this ideal. Far short. The characters have all the definition of pixelated amoebic blobs. If it weren't for coloring differences, I would be hard pressed to tell the human characters apart from each other. The sprites are harsh and blocky, pretty sad when so much better ones have been done in my day. While I can admire the creator for at least trying, I am not an 'A for effort' kind of girl; it'll get you caught in the Game,"

Looking around to see what reaction her words have garnered, she flips that paper to the back and looks down at her next piece.

"Next we had Plot, Writing, and Humor. Simply put, if there was a plot I sure as heck couldn't pick it out. Granted, there were short little mini-plots, but an overarching theme? Nowhere to be found. Unless you count 'see how many ways we can use sexual humor' as a plot," Her eyes flatten again; she's obviously not amused. "There was a faint glimmer of a message about pop culture and sexuality hidden in there somewhere, but it was rather poorly delivered and pretty stereotypical in its content. I mean, it's the whole 'Underground is cool, pop is bad' message that is almost more mainstream than Pop is, anymore. Just really, really unoriginal,"

"As for humor, well... I think I laughed all of six times during my entire perusal of the strips. The humor is bland and, more often than not, sexual in nature. It takes a really artistic flair to successfully pull off crude humor, in my book, and this artist just isn't enough an artist. Crude humor, sexual humor, all of that has its place, but can hardly rest on its own laurels. Even the masters can't rely solely on sex jokes, but must actually use something other than the most base entertainment known to humankind to get laughs. Honestly, there was no humor in this strip, end of story,"

She flips to her third page in her slim boned hands, scanning it briefly before speaking once more. "Finally, Characters. To be honest, I can readily identify only two memorable characters in this strip: Clango, and the Killer Robot. The rest just kinda blurred together. Clango I remember only because he is bigger than the rest, and grey coloured, and the Killer Robot only because he is all red. There just was little or no characterization, they were as flat as the sprites that illustrated them,"

She lays the sheets down, slipping them back into the folder quietly. "In summary, the comic was not worth the space that it is stored on, in its current state. Given some better story writing, and more recognizable spritework, and a little bit of humor than was not based on sexuality or Pop-culture bashing, this comic would have been far more enjoyable. As it stands now, however: 1.5 out of 10"

She turns and quietly walks back out of the room.

Review by Irenee Wed May 12 2004 02:00 AM

Quote:

STrRedWolf said:
There are several types of webcomic audiences...

I...no. Never mind.

Review by Thalamasa Tue May 11 2004 05:53 PM

"Diesel Sweeties" Rant

"I knew that a lot of Dream members have had a humorectomy performed on them before reviewing Buttlord GT, but I was surprised at how they revealed themselves in full force. It's almost as if they felt obligated to bash this comic."

I was going to leave it at that, but I see the truth now: You guys don't have souls.

I'm angry.

I'm going to preface this with a little story: Friday night, a girl named Amber saw me playing Dance Dance Revolution with a well-known gay person. Even though he knew I was straight, she said that he wanted to stick it up my butt. After defending myself and my friend, she walked away. The next night I was walking home from singing Karaoke in Alberti's Bar & Grille. Right before I reached my house, she spotted me across the street. She was with three other dudes. She ran across the street, got in my face and started calling my friend a faggot and called me a faggot by association. When I told her to stop dissing me and my friend, she wouldn't stop, so I said "F-ck you" and tried to walk away, but she decided to start pushing me. She wouldn't stop pushing, so I pushed her back. After repeatedly telling her to stop, I decided to slap her in order to get my point across. When I did that, one of the dudes she was with, a big black dude named Torres, walked up to me and punched me in the eye. The other two white dudes pulled her away, but not before she stomped on my hat. Now my face is messed up and I still feel my black eye, so I can't forget about it. The worst part is that most people I've told this to have said that I was the one who messed up since you're never ever supposed to hit a woman. They can get away with whatever they want. Now I'm mad at Amber, Torres, and Myself. I look and feel bad, I get funny stares and the same old lecture. I feel anger and guilt.

In short: I'm pissed. Things aren't as funny and food doesn't taste as good. Sometimes I get so angry I get a hard-on, I'm so angry.

This isn't helping.

Now, on to you guys. When I saw that Buttlord GT was up for review, I knew that a few people wouldn't like it, since some people have fooled themselves into thinking that humor that goes for the gut is not funny. I bet they wouldn't laugh if they were tickled.

Boy, did I underestimate you guys.

Not only did you feel the need to bash Buttlord GT but to also diss its creators and fans, make some remarks about the internet sucking and saying that reading the comic was a sin of some sort. Wow. I didn't know it was possible to hate a comic that much. I get flack from Furilius for saying a comic sucks. I hope the road runs both ways.

But what's done is done. I stated my opinions on BLGT, and so did you all. I may not have liked them, but at least they were semi-expected.

Now there's Diesel Sweeties. "Swell," I thought, "A comic that uses humor in a different way. Instead of going for the gut, the humor is a little more tongue-in-cheek, using words instead of farts in order to get the laughs across. These new-age stereotypes and the subsequent mocking oughtta get the brain working a little more than simple bowel humor."

And you guys STILL HATE IT.

What the hell is wrong with you?

I'm looking at the hits you have against this. The art sucks? The jokes get repetitive? There's no story? Characters are bland? What on Earth is this?

Art: Yes, it's pixelated. The art isn't that professional. I think it's a neat look. Facial expressions are shown real well. It may get tiring to read more than 200 pages of this in a row, but that applies to almost any webcomic. Here's the thing, though. This isn't a comic where a lot of physical stuff happens. It's more about the dialogue and the interactions between characters, so art takes a backseat to writing. Or, to put it more clearly:

GOOD WRITING SAVES BAD ART MORE THAN GOOD ART SAVES BAD WRITING.

Many comics try so very hard to make themselves look beautiful, just like some professional Anime or manga, but they forget to make an engaging story to go with the pretty art. If the writing's not that great, what's compelling me to move forward? I don't really care what pretty thing I'm going to see next unless it's pretty damn PRETTY. Most webcomics aren't that pretty. I can tolerate subpar art if the writing makes me laugh, think or care. I read webcomics for content, not eye candy.

Story: There is no story to this comic. They are one-shots and vignettes. If you think that a comic is bad because it lacks a story, then you are dumb.

Humor: Jeez, why all the hatin' on indie jokes and sex jokes? They're funny because they make me laugh. Indie Rock Pete is one of the funniest characters in webcomics, simply because It's so insanely funnily sad to see someone be such a loser and compensate for it by incorporating loserdom into his philosophy. Seeing him try to rationalise his life is hilarious, as it often just makes him seem more embarrasing. The other characters are pretty well-defined and funny as well, but Pete is just the best. Also, lines like "Jesus helps me trick people" and "The icy hand of death cannot stop a true pimp" are some of the funniest lines in webcomicdom, next to "Beefy Lava Shower."

Lesson time.

Apparently, you guys don't know how to review comics. You feel like if it doesn't fit your view of an ideal comic, it must suck. Ever hear of considering your audience? Not everyone has the same values as you. What I mean is that you shouldn't consider a comic's worth just because you did or didn't like it. You should also consider whether John Q. Public will like it as well. That's why instead of giving a 10-point rating, which comes off as pretty meaningless to me, I say who I'd recomment the comic to. It's much more useful, saying that even if I don't like a comic, I can tell who would enjoy it. (And the reason I don't recommend Gene Catlow to anyone is because the people who like that kind of stuff are often strange and scary. I stay away from them.) Just for fun, I did a random sampling at some other web forums, and it turns out that most people enjoy Buttlord GT. Another note of interest. While waiting for Van Helsing to start in the theater (awful movie, by the way), a girl I didn't know was talking about how much she like Diesel Sweeties and has been following it for four years. Further investigation revealed that both BLGT and DS have LOTS of fans, ranking up there with the fandom of Sluggy Freelance. Instead of saying the internet is stupid, I have a feeling the problem is more on YOUR end. I'm incredibly serious when I say you should relax, watch some Wildboyz and realize that it's okay to laugh at other people's misfortune, viscious insults and fart jokes.

Another thing you should learn is that WEB COMICS ARE NOT HIGH ART! I do not expect them to say something incredibly deep or meaningful and I do not want them to either. I do not want to have to think; I want to be entertained! Is there something so wrong with that? Does everything have to have a plot or even logical progression? Can I not enjoy crude, quick random humor? The answer is that I can enjoy all of these things, and you should get off your high horse as well.

And finally, what the hell makes you laugh? You don't like BLGT or DS. What IS funny to you? Seriously, I'd like to know. PM me and tell me. I don't want specific examples, but rather the general idea of what makes you laugh, because I sure can't figure it out.

Open message to Furilius Pitch.

The next comic I'd like to review after RPG World is White Ninja Comics. The art is grade-school level, there is no plot whatsoever and the humor is completely random. It has made me laugh incredibly hard, though. What will be much more of a hoot is seeing how the club reacts to it. I hardly can't wait.

In general.

I like Diesel Sweeties, but I'm not reading it right now. I don't want the comic spoiled by the fact that I find it hard to laugh. I'd recommend it to anyone with a sense of humor.

If you disagree with me or feel like you'd want to discuss this further with me, take it to PM. I'm perplexed, and I want to know exactly what is going on up there.

Addendum: After some introspection and reading Kajamir's post, I realize that he is right. I'm sorry for being in such a pissy mood this week and letting it taint, nay, smother my review. This won't happen again. It's just something I felt I had to get off my chest at the time. Now I don't want an argument to start on this thread, so if you have any beef with what I said, take it to the PM.

Review by Cobra Tue May 11 2004 01:38 PM

"Another week, another comic. And this week we have Diesel Sweeties, a comic about robots, humans, and mostly about sex jokes. At least the first 200 comics are about that. And frankly, I'm pretty sure the other 750+ comics are the same."

"So, based on the fact that I stopped reading the comic after comic #200... I should probably mention the general basis for the comic. Its about a robot named Clango, and his relationship with folks around him. And his 'relationships' as well."

Art: "A comic lives or dies by its art, usually. The problem with Diesel Sweeties is that its ALL done in sprites. Ok. I know that sprite comics can be QUITE good. Comics like Kid Radd and 8-Bit Theater prove sprite comics can be good. The problem here is instead of taking the Sprite medium and innovating it, it instead suffers and lags in the dulldroms of Sprites."

"Or put simply, if you want a comic that will bore you with its less than inspiring spritework, then man you've found the comic made for you."

Characters: "Other than Clango, and perhaps the killer red robot, all the other characters just seem to be... there. The only real motivations for any of them seems to be telling painfully boring jokes, or even worst, alluding to sex to a point of almost excess. Really."

"And thats probably why I like Red Robot #C-63. The motivation of "KILL THE HU-MANS!" is actually a nice break from the standard jokes on sex. *sigh* Other than him though, I just couldn't get really attached to any of the characters."

Writing & Plot: "First off, there is no plot. Not that I saw. Its more like a 'joke of the day' comic, where if a comic does relate to another, its more just a tiny story arch. So if you expect a ton of development from huge moving stories... MAN, have you picked the wrong comic."

"As for the writing... Uh... Ok. Honestly, its not that great. I mean, how many times MUST someone write a joke about having sexual relations with a robot? Or just sexual relations in general?"

Overall: "The jokes just get really, it gets really... really... absolutely old after a while. Combine that with characters I don't care about, and with an artistic flare that will leave you yawning for more, and you have Diesel Sweeties. I know it sounds harsh, but at this point, I want to DESTROY THE HU-MAN responsible for this comic. Not really, but it sounded about right though."

"So thats why I stopped at comic #200. It wasn't getting any better. It wasn't even giving me a single reason to enjoy the comic. Nothing jumped out at me and said "Care for me, because I'm really a cool comic under this horrible sprite exterior." I'm sorry, but even a killer red robot isn't enough for this ferret."

Score: 1.5 out of 10 (just because of C-63 made the comic less painful than it was)

Note: "Really, read Kid Radd and 8-Bit Theater if you want a good sprite comic. It'll save you a lot of headaches."

Review by Salen Stormwing Tue May 11 2004 12:18 AM

Art: Laughable. The characters are very simplistic, and they rarely do anything but stand up and move one arm. There are no backgrounds either, unless you count color changes. It's just not good.

Story: Not much of a story to this. There are a lot of strange relationship swaps, but no overarching plot of any kind. Occasionally we get something different (like Pete's 'descent' into pop stardom), but it never lasts long enough to impact the story-except to spur more relationship swaps.

Characters: Stale and nearly interchangeable. The only ones that I could consistently identify was Clango and the Red Robot, since they were obviously not from the same sprites as the rest of the cast; Indie Rock Pete was usually not a problem, but that's because he was a frustrating character.

Writing: Ye gods. This is a huge issue with Diesel Sweeties; it's all bad jokes about sex, music and selling out, and the difference between robots/computers and humans. Or any combination of the three. It doesn't really work that well, and it quickly got on my nerves.

Overall: Diesel Sweeties isn't that funny. I didn't laugh once while I was reading through it, and it rarely got a rise out of me. It did not, however, manage to offend me. 2 out of 10.

Review by Benor Mon May 10 2004 08:57 PM

Well, so much for my plan to read all the comics I reviewed all the way through. Like Salen, I only devoted about as much as one can read in one night, then copied the link for later viewing, as I managed to get to strip 252. Unfortunately for my ability to review the entire comic (and fortunately for my sanity), my PG has vetoed any plans to return to that link.

So... I went to this comic, and saw that it was a sprite comic. "Okay, that's not so bad," I figured, given that those sprite comics that are highly successful have very good plots and engaging characters. I was, unfortunately, mistaken. It is "so bad," so to speak, that I'm pretty certain that Mr Jobs was in pain when this one went up.

My PG, on the other hand, started harkening back to the era of that mouse that Super Nintendo had, how it came with this little paint program that was only mildly superior to MS-Paint, and how one could make, of all things, little sprite comics. Only normally the jokes that those comics had were more mature.

So, yea... This comic's almost entirely about bad trend jokes, robots, and robots having sex. I give it a 1 out of 10, redeemed from the depths of zero-dom only because the comic also seemed to be mocking itself. If you're looking for something witty and entertaining, do not under any circumstances read Diesel Sweeties. If you wish to feel like you're part of an "in" crowd by reading something done with little to no skill either in artistry or creative writing that also has no real humor, by all means read it.

Review by Krinele Fullin Mon May 10 2004 05:00 PM

Okay, time for me to join the few, the proud, the webcomic reviewers. I've been watching these reviews for some time so I decided to join the fray. And what's first for a review?

This drivel...

Diesel Sweeties is based around Clango(a robot), Maura(an ex-porno star), and their family and 'friends'. Most of the comic, however, is based around 2 things: sex, and cooler then thou jokes.

Art: This comic falls into a weird middle ground, art wise. It's a sprite comic, but all the sprites seem mostly home made. Outside of minor 'plot' reasons, the sprites never change, or change very, very little. Even the lettering is pixel based, making me wonder if the comic is thrown together using MSPaint as the base medium.

Characters: Every character in this comic are one-trick ponies...usually the same trick that at least a half-dozen other characters use. Even the 'new' characters, after being introduced, are regulated into the never ending of sex/poop/indier-than-thou jokes that make up the majority of this comic.

Writing and Plot: What writing? What plot? Diesel Sweeties is lacking both in spades. Well there is a little continuity in the comic, It's mostly one shot jokes. Granted, this wouldn't be that bad, if the one shots made sense. most of the time, they don't. Even the jokes that sorta work are finished by the 2nd or 3rd panel, leaving room to add some comment that kills the joke at the end.

Overall: To be blunt, Diesel sweeties isn't worth your time. There's little art skill, little character development, little plot, and little written skill. There isn't much about this comic that redeems it in my eyes, only a medium for obscure or over-explained sex or how to be/not to be cool jokes.

Overall score: 1 out of 10

Line from comic that best describes it:"Heh Heh! Just a little gag bewteen Ex-porn stars." "I don't get it."

Review by Hiyami Amano Mon May 10 2004 02:16 PM

"The writing in Diesel Sweeties isn’t really laugh-out-loud funny, but it will bring a smile to your face, and possible a giggle or two. It’s interesting to note that the non-human cast members serve more often as the source of comedy whenever they interact with their fellow human cast mates." more...

Read Full Review by Sahsha Andrade at Comixpedia Tue Jan 18 2005

"The comic traditionally consists of four panels of dialog, with a punchline (often a non sequitur or pop culture reference) in the final panel. Although there is some character development and the occasional story arc, most strips are largely self-contained. Recurring themes include the annual Hallowe'en strips, featuring characters from the comic in costume. The most distinctive aspect of the comic is the art style: the comic is made up entirely of large pixels, creating an interesting clash between the content and the form." more...

Read Full Review by Wikipedia contributors at Wikipedia Wed Dec 01 2004

"Some of the characters are cool and the comic has an interesting design. However, other than that, there's not a whole lot in Diesel Sweeties that I like — certainly not enough to read on a regular basis. I know a lot of people this strip and I respect their opinion, but this comic just isn't for me." more...

Read Full Review by Rebecca Henely at Sequential Tart Sat May 01 2004

Having read the other reviews on this site, I think there's an important angle that people have missed. Among my group of friends, I am the only one that's into webcomics. I've tried to get my friends into them, I provide endless suggestions for strips they might like. But the only one that universally scores a hit is Diesel Sweeties. It's easy to understand, it's unpretentious and above all, it makes them laugh. Okay, so it doesn't have deep and complex characterisation, but it's not intended to be deep and complex. Faulting it on that level is like complaining that your hammer is useless for whisking eggs.

The whole humour style is simple and, at times, puerile. Some people don't like that kind of humour. That's fine. But speaking personally, I'd rather read a webcomic that aims low and hits its target every time than look at yet another desperately-searching-for-intellectual-credibility webcomic that fails miserably.

Diesel Sweeties isn't big or clever, but it's very funny.

Review by The Hooded Falcon Wed Nov 23 2005 10:15 PM

Demands for substance are an automatic disqualification for understanding joke-a-day comics, so you probably shouldn't be reviewing them.

It'd be like a lactose intolerant restaurant reviewer on the ice cream joint circuit.

Hope your massive brains can wrap themselves around that.

Review by Mr. Habits Tue Jul 13 2004 02:46 PM

As a complete independent and someone who recently discovered DieselSweeties (Two months ago I didn't even know there was such a strange thing as web-comics, the very notion seemed absurd) I can safely say this comic is simply great. And I mean great as in standing 7 feet tall with hairs flying in the wind while small mamals bleat in the vicinity. Anyone funny enough to come up with lines as 'I am ten Ninjas' or 'We prefer to be called Buccaneer-Americans' should be cryogenetically frozen at the age of 60 to preserve his brain for countless generations to come.

Obviously I was not to know that a 'web-comic' is not like other comics at all. There is supposed to be a plot? This was new to me. Where's the plot in Calvin & Hobbes? Where are the intricaltely twisting lines of deviousness in Gary Larsson? (If your reply to this is that Larson isn't funny, well, our new and still fragile friendship ends here dear reader.)
I also thought that DS's crude pixellated art might have been some sort of statement, something saying (not too subtly either) look, this comic is ridiculous. Bask in its ridiculousness!
Apparantly I was misinformed. DS looks crude because its creator can't draw. Uhu. Sure.

I had some other arguments prepared but honestly I can't be buggered. I will conclude by saying that you people seem to have very strange tastes. I guess silliness just isn't for everyone... *sigh*

Review by Lacessit Tue Jun 01 2004 01:26 PM

Maybe he'd do better putting some actual funny content? I can see how the reviewers see nothing special about DS, after all, they have reviewed much better comics before.

If the whole point of DS is that it's a bad comic, well, then they "got it", dont you think

Review by Ludlum Thu May 27 2004 02:11 PM

You guys didn't like it? Damn, he'd better put some more pedophilic over-tones and sexually ambiguos animal-people, otherwise Stevens risks loosing your wide audience of pretentious "literary scholars".

Review by Wraith Thu May 27 2004 12:44 PM

Um, Mr. Stevens, while it is cool and all for you to be posting here, I'd prefer to keep all the posts here substantive and focused on either discussing Diesel Sweeties itself (of which your input as creator would certainly be valued) or reacting specifically to reviews about Diesel Sweeties.

But I'd like to keep the database free of junk posts.

One of the reasons I started the Webcomic Book Club was to try to establish a database of focused review threads for each webcomic. Often, a webcomic's actual forum becomes a place for general chit chat and community, so it is difficult to find genuine discussion of the comic itself. While there are usually threads to discuss individual strips, there are rarely critical discussions of the webcomic in a broader sense.

The tastes of our club's particular group of initial reviewers is somewhat irrelevant. They may get the ball rolling, but the database allows anyone to submit as formal (or, unfortunately, as trollish) a commentary on Diesel Sweeties as they wish.

But as long as posts are on topic, anyone's commentary is welcome.

Review by Furilius Pitch Tue May 25 2004 04:19 PM

Hey! is that the real Curt Berry?

Good to see you're alive my man. Email me if you ever want to be in on a guest comic week or something.

Review by rstevens Mon May 24 2004 09:54 PM

"Pot meets kettle, AGAIN: a love story"

You hit the nail on the head.

Personally, I like Diesel Sweeties. I just recently discovered it and have been enjoying it for a few weeks now, there are some strips that make me fall out of my chair laughing, and some that make me stare blankly at the screen and hope that if I stare long enough it will make me fall out of my chair laughing. However, one has to expect there to be people out there who don't like the same things, and it does not surprise me that there are people out there who don't like Diesel Sweeties.
HOWEVER, if you want a COMIC STRIP to have a plot, then read Rex Morgan. Humour strips have never been notorious for carrying on a continuous plot.

Review by Heccubus Sun May 23 2004 12:42 PM

It's Beavis and Butthead with more characters. And robots.

I would understand a 5 or 6 out of 10.

Giving it a 1 is intentional assholery.

That is all.

Review by The Bob Talbot Sun May 23 2004 03:13 AM

and thanks again on behalf of the community of people who don't demand that all their entertainment be masturbation fodder, mental or otherwise.

Review by khmer, dressed as fozzie bear Sat May 22 2004 09:51 PM

Having just ordered a book of Diesel Sweeties (that's right, I'd pay money for what I can get online for free) I can say without any hint of embarassment that I LIKE this strip. Sure, it may not be as smart and well drawn as Penny Arcade, or as character based as PvPonline (whoops, mainstream webcomics, is my opinion rendered unworthy now?), but sometimes, god forbid, it makes me laugh.

I had a huge list of things I wanted to say about the arrogance of these "intelligent" reviewers, but what's the point? By your standards, I'm also an intelligent, well-educated individual with a university degree in English Literature from Glasgow University, but I, unlike you, 'get' Diesel Sweeties. I didn't 'get' it at first, but once I did, boy, was it worth having.

It's MEANT to be dumb. Or did you not catch that? Of all the times you stopped and said "Man, this is so lame", did you never think that it could've been the point of the strip? I did, and when I realised that, I started to laugh. With this in mind, I laughed at the other strips, too.

Didn't you see the slogan "Smaller and dumber than ever"?

Of course, you'd probably say "I fail to see what's so amusing about a strip with dumb jokes".

Whilst roleplaying about submitting a review to a fictional board, of course.

-R.

Review by Mellowhine Fri May 21 2004 05:38 PM

strange how all the negative reviews are written 'by people who consider themselves to be of intelligence'... the arrogance of these people is COMPLETELY in contrast with what diesel sweeties is about, fantastic one-liners and laugh out loud SCENES. Obviously your considerable intellect missed the FUN that happens when you don't over-analyse something... sometimes a sentence is funny because of what it SAYS, not the secret hidden sub-context requiring a password to get...

anyhoo.

Review by Anyhoo. Fri May 21 2004 05:07 AM

Nothing spells good material like a bunch of rabid fan(-atic)s attacking anyone who disagrees with them, eh?

Call 'em furries, roleplaying nerds, or losers, whatever your choice of disdain, it comes down to you're a group of people getting worked up about an online comic (re: fandom). So you're pretty much like those you insult. Different tastes, different opinions, same boat. Real smart.

You don't like the reviews, so make some cutesy predictable line about the people behind them, and you post it on your own forum and theirs as well. Genius. My gawds, the irony is at critical mass!

God forbid anyone disagrees with any of you. You know, like how things go in the real world? No one disagrees there! Funny how you can take one thing from the real world though: the overabused right to whine like a simpering baby when something doesn't go your way or you meet some anonymous online personality you don't like for whatever reason. (plays clip from SNL's Sarcastic Clapping Family skit) Gosh, you smart folks sure showed them.

Review by Pot meets kettle, AGAIN: a love story Thu May 20 2004 09:57 PM

Diesel Sweeties is a cool comic. R Stevens is a cool guy. You guys aren't cool. You are very uncool. Your opinions are very hurtful. Why can't you be nice? You have no manners. If people were more understanding and tolerant, this would be a nicer world. Just because you don't understand something doesn't make it bad.

Review by Cool Curtis Berry Thu May 20 2004 05:45 PM

I'm no furry fan, no RPG player, no manga fan, and I still don't get Deisel Sweeties.

And rstevens is a real jerk

Review by whatever Thu May 20 2004 10:24 AM

God forbid a comic have orignal charecters and feature quality, dialouge driven comedy...

Review by DJBox88 Thu May 20 2004 01:58 AM

http://www.dumbrella.com//ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=28;t=001469

Review by z Wed May 19 2004 08:49 PM

Less reviews and more half human/half jaguar women with giant breasts and huge phalli. kTHNXbye

Review by FurryFan4Evah Wed May 19 2004 04:05 AM

this is the best review thread EVER. thank you for essentially writing me a year's worth of jokes :)

Review by rstevens Tue May 18 2004 03:51 PM

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