Achewood
Achewood is a webcomic created by Chris Onstad in 2001. It portrays the lives of a group of anthropomorphic stuffed toys, robots, and pets. Many of the characters live together in the home of their owner, Chris, at the fictional address of 62 Achewood Court. The events of the strip mostly take place in and around the house, as well as around the town of Achewood, a fictional suburb.
The comic's humor is usually absurdist, typically lacking a traditional punchline, and sometimes surreal. The strip features many characters with detailed backstories. Many Achewood strips contain some reference to food or drink because the author is a food and cooking enthusiast.
Originally published regularly, the comic began to miss release dates in late 2010. In March 2011, Onstad announced that Achewood would be going on an indefinite hiatus. In November 2011, the comic returned, followed by an announcement in December that the hiatus was over. However, Onstad stated that no regular schedule will be in effect, and new strips were released sporadically. Onstad indicated in 2013 that he had plans for pitching Achewood as an animated series. No further news came from this, and the comic itself was not updated between April 7, 2014, and December 24, 2015. When the strip returned, it was updated most subsequent Fridays. On December 25, 2016, Onstad announced that the strip would go on another hiatus. In 2023, Onstad resumed producing Achewood on a consistent weekly basis, making it available via Patreon.
History
The first Achewood strip was released on October 1, 2001. The location and the comic were named after an ingredient supposedly used by slaves during the United States's antebellum era that would induce melancholia in the drinker, according to the comic's website.Throughout Achewood, there is no distinguishable underlying storyline, only the general passing of time and development of the comic's characters and their interrelationships. The characters are mainly developed through one-off strips and short story arcs. There were 46 story arcs from 2002 to 2010. These story arcs are often interrupted with cutaways to the activity of other Achewood characters, which may or may not tie in with the main storyline of the arc. The pages often rely upon strange humor as well as stereotypes, literary and historical references, and an in-depth knowledge of the characters and their interactions.
Most strips include an alt text, a one-sentence aside written in Onstad's voice that appears when the reader hovers the cursor over the strip. The first alt-text was the word snif on Christmas, 2001. The first of the regular full-sentence alt-text appeared on January 2, 2002, apparently excusing a weak strip: "whatever. it was late and a friend was over."
In October 2002, Achewood "Sunday Edition" became part of the online alternative comics anthology Serializer. In their review of serializer.net, The Comics Journal wrote: "It's a pleasure to see strips like Achewood's 'Sunday' strip ... use the newspaper format for far more daring, entertainingly perverse work ... would be perfectly at home at a good alternative weekly or a great college paper." Achewood is sometimes featured in the Chaparral, Stanford University's humor publication, of which Onstad is a retired editor.
On April 30, 2003, Onstad introduced an advice column written by the character Ray called Ray's Place. The column has developed characters, mainly as perceived by Ray, and allows for readers to interact with the character.
July 2004 saw the introduction of several in-character blogs hosted on Blogger. Onstad stated in an interview that he found the blogs easier to maintain than the strip, as they do not require as much refining.
In late 2004, it was announced that Checker Book Publishing Group was to release a collection of Achewood comics later that year. Checker had signed Onstad to a three-book deal that was to begin in November 2004. However, the deal was cancelled soon after due to creative differences.
On September 10, 2008, Dark Horse Comics published a 104-page extended version of "The Great Outdoor Fight" story arc, with a deleted scene, background material on the fight, and other original content.
Dark Horse subsequently published in October 2009 the first several years of Achewood comics under the title of Achewood Volume Two: Worst Song, Played On Ugliest Guitar, including notes on each strip by Onstad. A third volume, Achewood Volume Three: A Home For Scared People, was published in December 2010 and contains strips up to the end of October 2002.
The arrival of new comics slowed down in late 2010. On March 20, 2011, Onstad posted on his blog that Achewood would be on an indefinite hiatus. Between November 2011, and June 2012, Onstad posted comics on an erratic basis, with up to four comics per month, then resumed regular, weekly new comics from August 2013 to April 7, 2014.
Onstad resumed posting comics on December 24, 2015, with the first new strip in 20 months, and continued to update the site on most subsequent Fridays throughout 2016. On December 25, 2016, Onstad announced that he was "walking away" from the strip and that it would be entering another extended hiatus period.
The webcomic was resumed in 2023, being made available over Patreon.
Major characters
Raymond Quentin Smuckles
Raymond Quentin "Ray" Smuckles is a somewhat overweight American Curl cat. In the comic, Ray is a financially successful musician after he sold his soul to the devil in exchange for success in pop music. The character is lucky and acquires money in various ways. He tends to throw lots of parties and is generous to his friends, but he has a weakness for gambling and is occasionally rude and insensitive. Ray made his first appearance on January 10, 2002, and has since become a major character in the comic along with Roast Beef. He can be identified by his outfit – designer glasses, a thong, the occasional fur coat, and a gold medallion.An advice column called Ray's Place is written in character by Ray on the Achewood site.
"Roast Beef" Kazenzakis
Roast Beef Kazenzakis is an intersex cat character. His birth name was "Cassandra" and it is unknown where his nickname, "Roast Beef", came from. He serves as one of the main characters of Achewood along with Ray. Roast Beef often serves as a foil to Ray in the strips. He is interested in Unix computer programming, poetry, and he has a wife named Molly Sanders whom he met in Heaven but eventually she came down to Earth to marry him. Despite a difficult childhood marked by poverty and trauma, including his mother killing his father, Beef battles his constant depression and suicidal thoughts. His relationship with Molly has improved his mental state, aided by light therapy. He has been shot four times in the comic.Roast Beef has written a number of poems, both in the strip and on his in-character blog. A recurrent theme in these involves weapons disguised as food.
Philippe
Philippe is an undyingly optimistic and naïve young otter who resides in the house with Cornelius Bear, Lyle and Téodor, as well as Chris and Chris's family. His housemates collectively raised him with varied success, with Téodor acting as a nurturing motherly-type; Lyle as a neglectful big brother, and Mr. Bear as a stern but gentle father. He is separated from his mother, who lives in Ohio, but they talk on the phone frequently, and have a close relationship. His mother occasionally sends him unusual presents. Other than the fact that he is deceased, nothing is known about Philippe's father. He is implied to be of French descent, and to have fought in a war as a youth.Philippe seems to be perpetually five years old, and celebrates his fifth birthday every year. A strip which revealed the future of the Achewood characters showed that Philippe will still be the same age, even after the other characters grow old and die. He eventually ends up moving back in with this mother, further emphasizing his young age.
His character has inspired music such as a song by the synth-pop band Freezepop titled "Here Comes a Special Boy" and the Song Fight! Entries for "What We Need More Of Is Science" by Brody and Octothorpe are two different versions of the same song about Philippe.