Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff Independent Analysis

[Drillgorg]

A thread for discussing the merits of SBaHJ as a standalone webcomic. I know for a fact that there are people who read SBaHJ, but not that other not as good comic Andrew writes. Lets try and look at SBaHJ through their eyes.

[darkDetective]

Ya, my gf has a friend that knows SBaHJ but has no idea what Homestuck is. That confused me.

But personally I wish he would update SBaHJ more. The most recent comic was so deep. The ending had such a twist.

[Drillgorg]

Oh but the glacial update speed is part of the fun. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder... for SBaHJ.

[Soleron]

Some of them must think it is a genuinely terrible webcomic. Poe's law for webcomics I guess?

I do think the later comics are less quotable, but since sbahj can't jump the shark by definition according to Andrew I have mixed feelings about whether this constitutes a decline or an improvement.

[keepster33]

Wasn't this whole webcomic made to make fun of some guy who refused to update his art style on a forum?
Wait, I found it
some chucklehead's crapshaith comic

[PlumFinder]

It isn't so much that he refused to update his artstyle as that he refused to spend lots of time and money on something he does as a hobby for himself.
I always felt they were quite mean to the guy.

Anyway, SBAHJ. I sort of like it, I guess. It lost a bit of its appeal to me with the later comics, since I felt the crappiness started to look too intentional (with the amount of typos getting more and more and stuff like that). The funny thing is, of course, that since SBAHJ is all about being a bad comic, anything I could find 'wrong' with it, might actually be part of the joke. So I'm not sure if I'm right in not liking the development or if I'm missing the point of it. Which is what makes it entertaining enough to keep reading the updates.

[nostalgebraist]

It lost a bit of its appeal to me with the later comics, since I felt the crappiness started to look too intentional (with the amount of typos getting more and more and stuff like that). The funny thing is, of course, that since SBAHJ is all about being a bad comic, anything I could find 'wrong' with it, might actually be part of the joke. So I'm not sure if I'm right in not liking the development or if I'm missing the point of it.

I feel like there are two distinct types of SBaHJ strips: those that try to be really strange/elaborate and full of strange/elaborate errors (the whole nancho party saga, for instance), and those that are really short and inane, where the very lack of content is part of the joke (like this, or of course this). I like both kinds, though I probably enjoy the elaborate ones more. I guess what I'm saying is that where you see a trend toward more intentional-looking badness, I see an alternation between attempts to be as bizarre as possible (which tend to look "intentional") and more simple, inane things that are a bit more "plausible." We may just be talking about different sorts of differences, though.

I definitely agree that the confusing nature of SBaHJ's badness is part of the appeal. It's always a weird experience when I read a new strip, think "man, that was dumb," and then think "well of course it was dumb," and then argue incoherently with myself for a few seconds.

[Drillgorg]

I agree that the more recent strips are definitely different. Probably my favorite recent strip would be the subway one, just because of how weird it is. I mean, SB and HJ are going on a "date", but they are both short like little kids compared to the "foxy slunt". That, and the part with the sandwich stonk flowing into Hella Jeff's nostrils cracks me up every time. I have to say that the subway one is the best put together of the recent comics, it just works so well.

[nostalgebraist]

I agree that the more recent strips are definitely different. Probably my favorite recent strip would be the subway one, just because of how weird it is. I mean, SB and HJ are going on a "date", but they are both short like little kids compared to the "foxy slunt".

Yeah, and it's also pretty weird that they're both going on a date with her at once. And that she wants to "escape to the side" (if that is in fact what's happening, and not just Sweet Bro's deranged interpretation). I agree that that one is especially good, and that its weirdness is what makes it good.

(When I showed SBaHJ to a friend, he was really disturbed by the shape of SB and HJ's butts. When we got to the subway strip, he suggested that they might be very small children wearing diapers, which would expect the butt shape as well as the height disparity. Of course that would make most of their other traits make less sense, like their fondness for marijuana and profanity, and Sweet Bro's facial hair.)

[dynamicEquilibrium]

I don't really think you can ever appreciate SBaHJ by looking at the strips as whole pieces, because they're just BAD, and that's the entire point.
For me, SBaHJ is more about the hilarious moments created at specific points within the overarching awfulness
It does seem to me, though, that the recent strips are different; they don't seem to be producing as many weird, 4-chan-meme-like sentences and unforgettable images as the initial strips did, and I haven't liked them as much because of that.
My favorite moment from the last few was definitely in the zoo strip, though: Geromy riding the giraffe in the corner is a work of sheer brilliance probably rivaled only by Bro's morror.

[Sporkaganza]

I think I like the short and inane SBAHJ strips more. But then again, I like some of the really long ones too.

Ah, but I just realized. The long ones I love best are ones where the gag goes on for way too long, like this infamous strip.

So really, what I love most is the ones where it's really just one idea, whether it's a short execution or stretching out the idea to ridiculous lengths. I feel like the ones that try to cram in too many different bad ideas at once just lose focus.

[IPadDoodler]

What my twin sister thinks of SBaHJ:

"...it must be hard to make it [SBaHJ] that awful! It's practically an art form in itself."

...I don't know what her opinion of the recent update would be.

But yeah, I find the long ones to pretty funny, like the car sinking one. I think that's my favorite one, actually.

[Dentrala]

I think he's just drawing back from the deep realm of Cool Dude and Stoner Lou masterpieces.

[rj lake]

I have several friends who don't read Homestuck and adore Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff.

They think it's absolutely hilarious.

[Cespinarve]

I agree that the more recent strips are definitely different. Probably my favorite recent strip would be the subway one, just because of how weird it is. I mean, SB and HJ are going on a "date", but they are both short like little kids compared to the "foxy slunt". That, and the part with the sandwich stonk flowing into Hella Jeff's nostrils cracks me up every time. I have to say that the subway one is the best put together of the recent comics, it just works so well.

They just installed a Subway in the library atrium at my university. Do you KNOW how bad the stench is from that place? The whole first floor is a miasmic hell, now. I say that strip should get nominated for a Pulitzer.

[BRPXQZME]

Our library also happens to coincide with a food court.

Not a very good idea IMHO, but at least there isn’t that much stonk.

[SuperPanic]

My friend has not read homestuck, But he references SBaHJ all the time

[Paul]

I have a friend who I tried to get into Homestuck. They didn't like it, but when they came to the first SBaHJ page, they were instantly hooked. They stopped reading Homestuck forever and now enjoy SBaHJ ironically, all by itself.

That was an... interesting and frustrating day.

[Epamynondas]

They just installed a Subway in the library atrium at my university. Do you KNOW how bad the stench is from that place? The whole first floor is a miasmic hell, now. I say that strip should get nominated for a Pulitzer.

Looks like it's time to start a donation drive for this!

[Nevermore360]

I have a friend that works at subway. He doesn't smell that bad.

[tynic]

It isn't so much that he refused to update his artstyle as that he refused to spend lots of time and money on something he does as a hobby for himself.
I always felt they were quite mean to the guy.

Time, yes, but money? What are you on about?

also this is an object lesson in what happens when you go to a dedicated artist's forum full of serious artists, many professionals, ask for advice, and then refuse to take it. It's not like anyone there actively sought him out in order to bash him.

There is considerable debate to be had about whether spontaneously and aggressively critiquing a not-for-profit work is a valid exercise, but when the author asks for help then the argument becomes moot. Nor was it an unexpected response, if the person in question had bothered to take the time to read even a minute percentage of the other threads in that forum. I reject the idea that just because something is a 'hobby' it should therefore be greeted with less rigour than if it were a professional undertaking, especially when the discussion is occurring in a professional environment.

[PlumFinder]

Well, the first advice he got was 'take art classes' which tend to cost money. That's what I meant.
I'm not going to argue any of your other points, suffice it to say I think people should always be friendly (or at least polite) to eachother and I don't like it when they're not.

I think I should clarify that I actually agree with everyone in that thread. He couldn't draw and made some fundamental mistakes (me noticing that says quite a lot, since I can't draw at all), and really needed to learn the basics first.

[tynic]

mm. The response from some was particularly vitriolic, I'll grant you.

[darkDetective]

I think I like the short and inane SBAHJ strips more. But then again, I like some of the really long ones too.

Ah, but I just realized. The long ones I love best are ones where the gag goes on for way too long, like this infamous strip.

So really, what I love most is the ones where it's really just one idea, whether it's a short execution or stretching out the idea to ridiculous lengths. I feel like the ones that try to cram in too many different bad ideas at once just lose focus.

OH.
MY.
GOD.

I JUST NOTICED THE SHOOSHING AND PAPPING IN THAT STRIP.

[Icosahedron]

SBaHJ is possibly the single greatest thing to be qualified as So Bad It's Good in the history of the universe.