''Hsu and Chan'' is a
comic strip created by Jeremy "Norm" Scott that appeared in the
video game magazine
Video game journalism is a branch of journalism concerned with the reporting and discussion of video games, typically based on a core "reveal–preview–review" cycle. With the prevalence and rise of independent media online, online publicat ...
''
Electronic Gaming Monthly
''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (often abbreviated to ''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews.
History
The ...
'' from November 1999 until the September 2008 issue. The strip has appeared at
1UP.com
''1Up.com'' was an American entertainment website that focused on video games. Launched in 2003, ''1Up.com'' provided its own original features, news stories, game reviews, and video interviews, and also featured comprehensive PC-focused conten ...
until September 30, 2009 when the blog ended and Norm promised to continue the comic at spookingtons.com. Full-length comic books of ''Hsu and Chan'' have also been published by
Slave Labor Graphics
Slave Labor Graphics (SLG) is an independent American comic book publisher, well known for publishing darkly humorous, offbeat comics. Creators associated with SLG over the years include Evan Dorkin, Roman Dirge, Sarah Dyer, Woodrow Phoenix, Jh ...
, as well as a trade paperback collecting the first five issues of the comic.
Norm began publishing a spin-off comic of ''Hsu and Chan'', titled ''Game Critter Super-Squad!'', in 2003. Following the adventures of 11-year-old Jimmy "Milhouse" Patton, ''Game Critter Super-Squad!'' ran for a year in ''
GameNOW
''GameNOW'' (occasionally abbreviated to ''GN'') was a United States-based video game magazine that was published by Ziff-Davis from November 2001 to January 2004. A total of 27 issues were published. In addition to video game consoles like Pla ...
''. More recently, animated shorts of the characters were produced and are available at th
Spookingtonswebsite. Additional comics and videos were produced in 2017 through
Patreon
Patreon (, ) is a membership platform that provides business tools for content creators to run a subscription service. It helps creators and artists earn a monthly income by providing rewards and perks to their subscribers. Patreon charges a com ...
funding.
Background
''Hsu and Chan'' follows the misadventures of the brothers Hsu and Chan Tanaka, who own and operate a company called "Tanaka Bros. Game Development" that specializes in knock-offs of popular titles. For example, ''Bad Milage 2000'', a knock-off of ''
Gran Turismo'' appears in the strip "Hsu and Chan in: Chan Turismo!"
Tanaka Bros. Game Development has other, less seen employees, including Arnie, a
ground squirrel
Ground squirrels are members of the squirrel family of rodents (Sciuridae), which generally live on or in the ground, rather than trees. The term is most often used for the medium-sized ground squirrels, as the larger ones are more commonly known ...
bearing a striking resemblance to
Sonic the Hedgehog
is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformer ...
, Gila Mobster, a brutish
Charmander
Charmander (), known as in Japan, is a Pokémon species in Nintendo's and Game Freak's ''Pokémon'' franchise. Created by Atsuko Nishida, Charmander first appeared in the video games ''Pokémon Red'' and ''Blue'' and subsequent sequels, lat ...
parody who can be seen wearing a black
fedora
A fedora () is a hat with a soft brim and indented crown.Kilgour, Ruth Edwards (1958). ''A Pageant of Hats Ancient and Modern''. R. M. McBride Company. It is typically creased lengthwise down the crown and "pinched" near the front on both sides ...
with a lighter grasped in the end of his tail, and Chernobyl, the radioactive chipmunk who is a take on
Pikachu
is a fictional species in the ''Pokémon'' media franchise. Designed by Atsuko Nishida and Ken Sugimori, Pikachu first appeared in the 1996 Japanese video games ''Pokémon Red'' and ''Green'' created by Game Freak and Nintendo, which w ...
.
The name Dirk appears frequently as a replacement for a random name ("
Ledger of Zelda") or for anagrams and codenames ("
Pocket Morons: Platinum"; "
Sonic Boobs"). Many comics also make references to
Cheez-its
Cheez-It is a brand of cheese cracker manufactured by the Kellogg Company through its Sunshine Biscuits division. Approximately , the rectangular crackers are made with wheat flour, vegetable oil, cheese made with skim milk, salt, and spices.
C ...
, usually with characters noticing crumbs (This was also done in "The Otters: The Survivors"). Many references are made to the ''
Tomb Raider
''Tomb Raider'', also known as ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' from 2001 to 2008, is a media franchise that originated with an action-adventure video game series created by British gaming company Core Design. Formerly owned by Eidos Interactive, th ...
'' series, usually referring to the newer games as crimes against humanity.
The first comic to spin off from Hsu and Chan was ''Game Critter Super-Squad!'', which ran in ''EGMs now-defunct sister magazine, ''
GameNOW
''GameNOW'' (occasionally abbreviated to ''GN'') was a United States-based video game magazine that was published by Ziff-Davis from November 2001 to January 2004. A total of 27 issues were published. In addition to video game consoles like Pla ...
''. This strip follows the midadventures of 11-year-old Jimmy "Milhouse" Patton (a human) and the Game Critter Super-Squad, a team consisting of Arnie, Sonic the Hedgehog, Gila Mobster, and X, an anthropomorphic, green letter
X who works for
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...
.
Slave Labor comics
After three years with EGM, Norm contacted
Slave Labor Graphics
Slave Labor Graphics (SLG) is an independent American comic book publisher, well known for publishing darkly humorous, offbeat comics. Creators associated with SLG over the years include Evan Dorkin, Roman Dirge, Sarah Dyer, Woodrow Phoenix, Jh ...
about making a standalone, full-length Hsu and Chan
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. ...
. Slave Labor agreed, with eight issues of the comic published between 2003 and 2009. A collection of the first five of these along with extra bonus material was released in 2004 and titled ''Hsu and Chan: Too Much Adventure''.
[Scott, Norm. (2004). ''Hsu and Chan: Too Much Adventure''. SLG Publishing.]
Since the EGM strips are typically one page long, they are self-contained stories that parody a specific video game, usually the title on that month's cover of EGM. The Slave Labor comics, on the other hand, are considerably longer and more reliant on plot. The Slave Labor comics are also less video game-centric and feature Hsu and Chan battling supernatural foes and their arch-rivals at the competing video game company, Yamamoto Games, Inc.
Norm's naturally wordy dialogue is slightly toned down for the EGM strip, a necessary compromise given the single page nature of the strip. In the Slave Labor comic, the characters are more verbose.
Despite the separate focuses of the two different strips, they exist within the same universe. In the Slave Labor comics Hsu's right hand is severed and replaced with a
prosthetic appliance; the change was reflected in the EGM strip.
Video game parodies
The following games have been featured and parodied in the Hsu and Chan EGM strips:
*''
Driver'' - (Drivel)
*''
Final Fantasy
is a Japanese science fantasy anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and developed and owned by Square Enix (formerly Square). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science fantasy role-playing video games. The ...
'' - (Final Fantasize)
*''
Kingdom Hearts
is a series of action role-playing games developed and published by Square Enix (originally by Square). It is a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company and is under the leadership of Tetsuya Nomura, a longtime Square E ...
'' - (Hearts o' Darkness)
*''
Grand Theft Auto
''Grand Theft Auto'' (''GTA'') is a series of action-adventure games created by David Jones and Mike Dailly. Later titles were developed under the oversight of brothers Dan and Sam Houser, Leslie Benzies and Aaron Garbut. It is primarily de ...
'' - (Hsu Crime Stories)
*''
James Bond 007
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
'' series - (Thunderblarg)
*''
Resident Evil
''Resident Evil'', known in Japan as is a Japanese horror game series and media franchise created by Capcom. It consists of survival horror, third-person shooter and first-person shooter games, with players typically surviving in environmen ...
'' - (Zombierama)
*''
The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 c ...
''- (Lords of the Bling, Hoard of the Things)
*''
Gran Turismo'' - (Chan Turismo)
*''
Metal Gear
is a series of techno-thriller stealth games created by Hideo Kojima. Developed and published by Konami, the first game, ''Metal Gear (video game), Metal Gear'', was released in 1987 for MSX, MSX home computers. The player often takes control ...
'' - (Secret Agent Chan)
*''
Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney'' - (Jerk Simpkins, Ace Attorney
nder Fire Nder may refer to:
* Alioune Mbaye Nder (born 1969), Senegalese singer
*N'Der
N'Der (also spelled Nder or Ndeer) is a small town on the western shore of the Lac de Guiers, in northern Senegal. It was the third and last capital of Waalo until the a ...
*''
Super Mario Bros.
is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The successor to the 1983 arcade game ''Mario Bros.'' and the first game in the ''Super Mario'' series, it was first released in 1985 for th ...
'' - (Down the Drain)
*''
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 ...
'' - (Pocket Morons, Pocket Morons Platinum)
*''
Sonic the Hedgehog
is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformer ...
'' - (Sonic Boobs, Sonic Weirdos)
*''
Castlevania
''Castlevania'' (), known in Japan as is a gothic horror action-adventure video game series and media franchise about Dracula (Castlevania), Dracula, created and developed by Konami. It has been released on various platforms, from early system ...
'' - (Symphony of the Nut)
*''
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-releas ...
'' - (The Ledger of Zelda)
*''
Halo
Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to:
* Halo (optical phenomenon)
* Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head
HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Video games
* Halo (franchise), ...
'' - (Combat: Involved!)
*''
Soul Calibur
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...
'' - (The Soul Still Burns, Low Calibur)
*''
Halo 3
''Halo 3'' is a 2007 first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie for the Xbox 360 console. The third installment in the ''Halo'' franchise, the game concludes the story arc begun in 2001's '' Halo: Combat Evolved'' and continued i ...
'' - (Halo How Are You?)
*''
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' is a 2008 crossover fighting video game developed by Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Wii. The third installment in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series, it was announced at a pre-E3 2005 press conference ...
'' - (Prelude to a Brawl)
*''
SOCOM: Confrontation'' - (So Conned)
References
External links
Norm Scott's official website, Hsu and Chan at Spookingtons
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hsu And Chan
Slave Labor Graphics titles
2006 webcomic debuts