Achewood - The Great Outdoor Fight

[Pink Gregory]

Just a bit of unecessary praise for a thing that I like.

I've read pretty much all of Achewood over and over again, and it's a really obvious standout but to have gone from this cute little irreverent webcomic about Chris Onstad's teddy bears to a very funny and affecting story arc that really sums up the two best characters (Ray and Roast Beef, come on, it's true) and their entire relationship, to the point where I think this is the one chunk of Achewood you could read without knowing much about it.

Beef's encyclopaedic and calm knowledge of the Fight, despite otherwise being a depressed and contradictory kind of guy; Ray's entitlement to being Blood-Of-Champions by paying his way in but then being subtly manipulated into living up to his dad's legacy, seemingly out of nowhere, even when he knows he has to fight his best friend and win; really fleshes out Ray when before he's maybe a little bit one note.

It's also probably the last great long form bit before Onstand gets a bit in his own head and starts to write more and more dialogue, which has its own value but it's not quite the same, and it makes me question whether he was truly creatively satisfied with what comes after, the stranger and more involved the comic becomes.

[Pink Gregory]

Alright, not the last great arc.  I love Little Nephew In Wales even though it's a fairly straightforward joke.

And of course the originally planned ending with Phillipe is wonderful, but it's much more of a traditional 'emotionally resonant comic', I think.

[idunnosomename]

Following this account and can't wait till it kicks off

https://www.twitter.com/AchewoodPlus20

[QDRPHNC]

Was planning on lying in bed today, and now I'm in the mood to read this again.

"Do I have to hush him, Roast Beef?"
"Hush, Ray."

[Pink Gregory]

Following this account and can't wait till it kicks off

https://www.twitter.com/AchewoodPlus20

much more convenient way of reading it too

[MojoJojo]

Here https://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=01112006

[madhair60]

alright you want a hot dog or a polish or anything

[Pink Gregory]

alright you want a hot dog or a polish or anything

"yeah, he's good people"

[Mister Six]

The highlight of Achewood for me was the North Korean Magical Realism story. Such a brilliant combination of whimsy, satire, character comedy, pop-culture nostalgia and formal innovation. And it's funny!

[Video Game Fan 2000]

I like the Outdoor Fight fine and when its hits its laugh out loud funny, but I think its the beginning of the end for me. It's the point where Onstad seemed to lose his near supernatural grasp on the characters voices and everyone starts to talk fancy and verbose like. Some funny stuff after but its no Beef on the Moon, Philippe Runs for President, Pat's Subway or Lyle Wins Oasis.

The highlight of Achewood for me was the North Korean Magical Realism story. Such a brilliant combination of whimsy, satire, character comedy, pop-culture nostalgia and formal innovation. And it's funny!

The RV where its always raining inside is maybe the funniest panel of any strip I've ever seen.

[Pink Gregory]

The highlight of Achewood for me was the North Korean Magical Realism story. Such a brilliant combination of whimsy, satire, character comedy, pop-culture nostalgia and formal innovation. And it's funny!

I like it too, that really intense, dialogue heavy, cerebral Achewood that comes later is a continuation of trends, but it seems much more like Onstad spilling himself onto the page and less about the character work.

And he manages to make a compelling arc out of Todd the cokehead squirrel, which is impressive

[PlanktonSideburns]

Yea it's an amazing bit of we world building

Must dig out the book again soon, done lovely extra bits there

[no_offenc]

Dildo It™!

[Pink Gregory]

Dildo It™!

ooh-la-la!

[sevendaughters]

I had the GOF as a book and lentgave it to a mate, no regrets really, but it is worth 3 fig easy.

I...AM....RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE!

[madhair60]

It was supposed to be coming out as a one-shot from Oni Press aaaaages ago. No idea what happened to that.

[Pink Gregory]

It was supposed to be coming out as a one-shot from Oni Press aaaaages ago. No idea what happened to that.

I found a few recent-ish listings for a complete Achewood collection, but Covid + Onstad supposedly being a bit unreliable might have shelved it, dunno.

[QDRPHNC]

I had the GOF as a book and lentgave it to a mate, no regrets really, but it is worth 3 fig easy.

I...AM....RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE!

It it really? I have it, and the other two as well (A Home for Scared People and World's Worst Song Played on Ugliest Guitar).

[no_offenc]

I found a few recent-ish listings for a complete Achewood collection, but Covid + Onstad supposedly being a bit unreliable might have shelved it, dunno.

Seems to still be coming. Onstad is in the "official" group on Facebook and I think mentioned there had been some covid delays or something along those lines, but the full collection is still coming as far as I can tell.

[13 schoolyards]

It was initially bumped due to Covid but there's been zero official word about its rescheduling - all the release dates are continually pushed forward a random number of months in a way that suggests the listing is being kept open and nothing more. Even the official page for it hasn't been updated: https://onipress.com/pages/achewood

Until there's some firm announcement that it's happening again, it's probably reasonable to assume that after almost two years it's been quietly dropped. Which is a bit shit, as I for one would love a collection of the series - those old hardcover collections (The Great Outdoor Fight aside) fizzled out well before getting to the glory days.

[Retinend]

Following this account and can't wait till it kicks off

https://www.twitter.com/AchewoodPlus20

Thanks to this person's efforts, I am now getting into Achewood for the first time, properly.

Trying to get into it in the past, I was always bumping up against how in-jokey it was. Now I'm reading the old ones I can appreciate the charm. of its characterisation plain and simple.

I'm yet to be blown away by anything, mind. Its reputation is that it's in competition with Calvin and Hobbes in the sweet/smart/funny stakes. And I love Bill Watterson,  so I'll keep reading and see how I go.

[The Mollusk]

I had the GOF as a book and lentgave it to a mate, no regrets really, but it is worth 3 fig easy.

I...AM....RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE!

You can get it in less-than-decent quality for £15 here if you want.

Nice to know it's supposedly worth a fair bit, as my copy's in excellent nick. I've got the first six volumes of the original paperbacks (with the white covers, not the second run which had brightly coloured covers) which I imagine would also be worth a pretty penny. My ex spilled coffee on a couple of them so the covers are stained, but it doesn't matter as I'd never want to sell them anyway. Enormous sentimental value. Achewood is one of my favourite things ever. I named my cat after Ray.

[Ron Maels Moustache]

If anyone would like an even easier way to read the complete Achewood, this pdf appeared as if by magic a couple of months back:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1A-fSQW_qAHuZdqvl-pagcW6z1f7HV2hz/view

(this has nothing to do with the as yet unreleased collections, it's fan made as as far as I can tell)

[imitationleather]

If anyone would like an even easier way to read the complete Achewood, this pdf appeared as if by magic a couple of months back:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1A-fSQW_qAHuZdqvl-pagcW6z1f7HV2hz/view

(this has nothing to do with the as yet unreleased collections, it's fan made as as far as I can tell)

I was thinking of asking for something like this. Ta!

[13 schoolyards]

You can get it in less-than-decent quality for £15 here if you want.

Nice to know it's supposedly worth a fair bit, as my copy's in excellent nick. I've got the first six volumes of the original paperbacks (with the white covers, not the second run which had brightly coloured covers) which I imagine would also be worth a pretty penny. My ex spilled coffee on a couple of them so the covers are stained, but it doesn't matter as I'd never want to sell them anyway. Enormous sentimental value. Achewood is one of my favourite things ever. I named my cat after Ray.

I was trying to collect the original paperbacks a few years ago, and I guess I still am as I'm missing one (either the fifth or the seventh, I'd have to check). They weren't all *that* pricey but they were extremely hard to come by - I guess everyone who bought them from Onstad's original store was enough of a fan to hang onto them.

Onstad found a few copies of some (but not the one I needed) a while back and put them up on his store at a massive mark up - most of them are still there, which suggests he was a bit optimistic with his pricing: https://achewood-holiday-pop-up.myshopify.com/collections/original-books

[Hex Triplet]

If anyone would like an even easier way to read the complete Achewood, this pdf appeared as if by magic a couple of months back:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1A-fSQW_qAHuZdqvl-pagcW6z1f7HV2hz/view

(this has nothing to do with the as yet unreleased collections, it's fan made as as far as I can tell)

mazin stuff, cheers rons moustache (and unknonwn internet compiler).

[Pink Gregory]

I hope Onstad has it all securely saved at least.  I assume he owns the website or still pays for it to be hosted?

[PlanktonSideburns]

I hope Onstad has it all securely saved at least.  I assume he owns the website or still pays for it to be hosted?

Oh god, the thought of it getting MySpaced. Wonder how much it would cost to get it all printed out or transferred to overhead projector slide

[Pink Gregory]

Finally watched that ancient Achewood animated test footage, was quite impressed with how they really got the voices feeling right (in my mind Phillipe is squeakier but who cares), Ray is voiced by Toby Huss!

Also I thought 'whoever's playing Roast Beef has the right idea' and it's...Chris Onstad.

[madhair60]

FWIW I have a lot of the rarer Achewood stuff archived/backed up