''Awkward Zombie'' is an ongoing

video game webcomic Many webcomics have been influenced by video games and video game culture. Background Webcomics frequently poke fun at video game logic, the video game industry, and stereotypical behavior of gamers. The earliest video game webcomic was ''Polym ...

by Katie Tiedrich. Starting in 2006, the webcomic parodies the unusual aspects of video games in a comedic fashion. Initially gaining steam by parodying ''

Super Smash Bros. ''Super Smash Bros.'' is a Crossover (fiction), crossover fighting game series published by Nintendo. The series was created by Masahiro Sakurai, who has directed every game in the series. The series is known for its unique gameplay objectiv ...

'', ''Awkward Zombie'' is known for covering a broad selection of games. The webcomic has been featured by various gaming-related websites.

Overview

Updating approximately once a week, ''Awkward Zombie'' consists of

gag-a-day A gag-a-day comic strip is the style of writing comic cartoons such that every installment of a strip delivers a complete joke or some other kind of artistic statement. It is opposed to story or continuity strips, which rely on the development of ...

parodies of a broad selection of video games, such as ''

'', '' Fire Emblem'', ''

Pokémon (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures (company), Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of ...

'', ''

The Legend of Zelda ''The Legend of Zelda'' is an action-adventure game franchise created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo, although some portable installments and re-rele ...

'', ''

World of Warcraft ''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...

'', '' Red Dead Redemption'', and the ''

Metal Gear is a series of techno-thriller stealth games created by Hideo Kojima. Developed and published by Konami, the first game, ''Metal Gear'', was released in 1987 for MSX home computers. The player often takes control of a special forces operativ ...

'' series. Focusing on the "ridiculous situations" that could occur in video game worlds, ''Awkward Zombie'' is entirely non-sequential, with no main characters or plotlines. Because of this, the comic can be read entirely out of order. Tiedrich occasionally makes cameos in her own webcomic. Tiedrich occasionally does penciled

24-hour comic A 24-hour comic is a 24-page comic book written, drawn, and completed in 24 hours. Cartoonist Scott McCloud came up with the challenge in 1990 as a creative exercise for himself and fellow comics artist Stephen R. Bissette. Beginning in 2004, writ ...

s on the ''Awkward Zombie'' website. Tiedrich studied

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

at the Stevens Institute of Technology.

Reception

Graham Smith,

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of ''

Rock, Paper, Shotgun ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' (also rendered ''Rock, Paper, Shotgun''; short ''RPS'') is a UK-based website for reporting on video games, primarily for PC. Originally launched on 13 July 2007 as an independent site, ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' was acquir ...

'', praised ''Awkward Zombie'' for its focus on comedy rather than story. Stating that video game webcomics usually "start off being about videogames and then they drift ... to being more about the characters contained within the comic," he said that ''Awkward Zombie''s great strength is not having a regular cast of characters. The staff of '' Paste Magazine'' described ''Awkward Zombie'' as "consistently hilarious". ''

PC Magazine ''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and have continued to the present d ...

'' editor Eric Griffith listed ''Awkward Zombie'' among the "best webcomics of 2015". ''Awkward Zombie'' has frequently been featured in ''

Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...

''s "Sunday Comics" column, and multiple pages of the webcomic have been voted in '' Joystiqs "Weekly Webcomic Wrapup" poll as the best comic of their respective weeks.

References

External links

*{{Official website 2000s webcomics 2010s webcomics American comedy webcomics Video game webcomics Parody webcomics 2006 comics debuts