Well, it’s been a tough week, and it didn’t help that finding a comic idea suitable for this week was tough as well. I just kept thinking, “Is this the week we don’t deliver?” Despite my uncertainty with how we would come through, CK knocked it out of the park with his guest strip, so thank you for that!
Not sure I’m feeling it with this comic… but since it was Tim’s idea, I can at least sleep with a fairly neutral conscious. For those of you who don’t know what a kill screen is here’s the link to understand our joke this week.
Although I found the comic kind of funny… it seemed kind of lazy. Just some re-used artwork and a couple glow effects. I mean, the first pannel is just rotated from your other Pac-Man comic, but with the pellets, ghost and Pac-Man moved. And the last panel is copied from the Wikipedia page, just with some glow on the corner. And yes, I knew what a kill screen was before reading the comic.
Kinda dissapointing, guys. Maybe the death of 2P Start is nearing? 🙁
Shaddup.
But congrats to the guest comic. Like Tim said, it should get some praise this week.
It was okay. Also if you have beaten pacman 255 times then you need to go to rehab.
no, the 256 level is the kill screen. ive only managed to do it twice but its taken me over 24 hours to do it each time, it takes a dedicated player, especially for me since i find it hard to focus on pacman for that long when i could be playing Lost Odyssey. so no, keep yourselves out of rehab, cause its not impossible.
Looks like someone set- NO BAD JD
…ahem. Also, fantastic guest strip. Wonder what 2P Kirby’s ability is?
well you shouldn’t read LittleGamers, cause they do that all of the time, but they are always funny
I couldn’t get through half of the little gamers archive before I quit.
What I found funny was that in the last panel
half of the place blew up.
But in the the last panel it would of been more funny if there was an explosion causing all ghosts + Pac-man to die.
But although it needed more work it was funny.
And I found the guest strip funny to
Did you pay any attention… To anything?
Well I personally find this comic quite amusing, in that sort of “well, now we know” way.
To think that the Kill Screen appears because the ghosts have gotten thoroughly sick and tired of you making their lives a living hell is something I find funny.
And if we extrapolate and combine this with what we already know then we can see that not only is this an end game scenario, but also a scorched earth policy put into action for purposes of self preservation.
It was an okay comic, guys. Nothing mindblowing but nothing terrible either. But the THRILL of reaching a kill screen is great.
Thanks to sheppy’s above comment, knowing that its the kill screen makes it much better. Its not out of the water amazing, but its enjoyable. It made me smile.
not a bad comic… But no NCG…
Besides, did you know you guys got an deviant art stamp?
http://gadoink1.deviantart.com/art/2PSTART-stamp-126911569
No, it’s not by me. It’s done by someone else (looking for him)
“This is the end
My only friend, the end”
I was not aware that Pac-Man had it’s own death screen.
Now I wonder if Ray recreated it or is that just a copy/pasta job again? 😛
Hate to kick you while you’re down, but…
Make way, “A New Power-Up”, there’s a new worst 2P Start comic in town!
The guest strip was pretty funny, though.
Kill Screen ftw.
Potential Pac-Man kill screen coming up if anyone in intrested.
Someone had to say it.
Though this isn’t the BEST comic…It isn’t NEAR the caliber or level of screwiness as Bad Company (I happened to like Mario Steroids and Tim’s Take.) No offense, but I really can’t take that comment seriously, especially since you’re nitpicking the whole thing to death.
Okay I did not see the link and I only got to level 12
Copy/Pasta. I considered recreating it for a while, but decided not to because A> it truly seemed like it wouldn’t be worth all the trouble, and B> because seeing it change to the original Pac-Man style would indicate it was specifically ‘from’ something in the game, instead of just looking like a garbled mess.
I have a lot to say about this comic actually, so I’ll hold my tongue until the podcast on Monday.
Don’t be too hard on it though. I thought it was a damn fine idea for a comic and nicely realised.
Made me lol… but maybe it helps that I didn’t need the joke explaining.
Gah!! I see Ray’s face in the corner of the last panel!
*runs and hides in corner*
mommy im scared the kill screen is staring at me….
Anyway, I have alot of respect for people who reach a kill screen, because it was (and still should be, IMHO) the golden acheivement for true gamers, none of this junky trophies/acheivements for the current consoles. Those players turn a casual form of recreation into an art of gameplay. I’d love to reach the kill screen of Pac-Man or Donkey Kong one day.
Anybody ever seen King of Kong: Fistful of Quarters?
King of Kong is great. And I guess I truly am in the minority of 2P Start fans. I honestly enjoyed this AND “A New Power Up”
I thought it as a good chuckle and the image of a Pac Man ghost with a bomb is very eerie to me. Good comic and the guest comic was pretty rocking too.
I’m curious as to what’s the comic’s explanation for why 2 of the ghosts changed colors (white and yellow should be pink and orange). Maybe they got covered in white paint and shrapnel? lol.
Not that great, but not horrible either. It definitely felt like a lot of the art from the High in Cholesterol comic was reused (I think I can still see a baby ghost in panel 3). Although, the thought of a bomb blowing up half the level is a pretty funny idea. And I loved the King of Kong, so I fortunately got the kill screen joke right away.
Oh, and I thought the guest comic was pretty funny. Nice job, CKCheeseboy!
While the initial punch line of the joke was lost on me(i didn’t know what a kill screen was until i read the Wikipedia page), I love it when real aspects of video games that have a logical reason are explained illogically.
snacg(super nice awesome comic guys)
I for one like this comic, I like the idea and presentation.
I lol’d.
But at the same time, I’m appalled. This comic suggests that terrorism and suicide bombing is the answer to a problem. That by bombing the land, killing it and yourself- you have solved something.
I thought this was a PG comic.
PG Start.
For shame, guys…
lets hope Thompson doesn’t see this.
Eh. Sorry. I understood that it was a kill screen and all, but it just wasn’t that funny for me. I can’t really think of anything you necessarily did wrong…it just didn’t work for me for some reason.
I like how some comments are like “Meh, you reused too much art in this one…but the guest comic is nice!” XD
But thanks a lot, and I’m glad I could create a distraction for you 😛
I thought this comic was alright, but not great. I saw the kill screen coming as soon as Pac-Man said “255 times”, but it was a nice take on it. (side note: shirt.woot.com once had a Pac-Man shirt, and in the description they had “Don’t wear this shirt more than 255 times–there’s a glitch” which I enjoyed). You should have put some hidden text in the jumbled mess, though.
And does anybody besides me think that “Integer Overflow” would make a cool band name?
Don’t take this comment the wrong way, I’m not trying to say you don’t deserve my comments, but…:
I’m finding it harder and harder to post comments on your Comics and Podcasts recently, and I’m not exactly sure why. Usually when I comment, its because there was something funny, clever, or just the overall content was good, but lately I really haven’t found any of these things on this site. They haven’t been TERRIBLE, but they aren’t as good as they used to be. I understand that Tim just recently became a father and I’m sure Ray is going through his fair share of obstacles too. I guess that maybe the latest comics and jokes don’t do it for me, but I’m sure they did it for many other people. This was a clever way of kind of “explaining” why the kill screen happens (Besides the real reason, which is overflowing code or whatever), but it didn’t do it for me as much as, say, The Power Of Teamwork.
I thought this comic was just fine. It fits the style of your comic and while I know your artwork is one of the most talked about things, the primary focus of the comic should be that it’s funny, not necessarily the art. And I thought the comic was funny so the rest of it is just a plus.
I’m a big Pac-Man dork, and I particularly enjoyed this comic. It’s a different take on a classic scene, and that’s what a lot of video game comics try to do.
Thumbs up.
That would be me, actually.
I smiled just a little when I learned what the heck this comic meant. Eddy is right in saying that we get really disappointed if every comic is better than the last one.
wow lots of things to say this week. First, whats up with the preview that you showed on twitter, I couldn’t find that in any of the comics(??), second that gives a whole new meaning to ‘kill screen’, I actually saw the live donkey kong killscreen on g4(aren’t I cool XD) and it was pretty interesting to try to figure out why on my own since I’m a programmer it wasn’t too hard to figure out pac-man’s problem. as for the guest comic, kirby needs to go on a diet, not even he can handle the awesome of 2P START!
Mmmm, Didn’t you guys say whenver you were feeling especially lame about a comic you reverted to Pac-Man themes?
xD, in that case you guys should at least do your research on Pac-Man ghosts… I doubt that bashful (Read: Inky) would be the Ghost to plant the bomb. Perhaps Shadow (Read: Blinky) or even the Ambusher (Read: Blinky) since they’re both much more sinister ghosts.
However, the funniest thing about the last panel even though its a copy pasta for me is that the Idiot (Read: Clyde) is the only ghost fully caught in the explosion.
Everytime I see the main page of the comic, your morbid titles make me feel like 2P start is going away =(. While I like railing on you, who will I rail on if you’re gone?
Super Secret Comic Preview #130 was part of the paint can.
Wait. I just thought of something that you did wrong. There was no Rouge! XD Yes, that’s right, I want Rouge in a Pac-Man comic! 😛
Again, sorry, couldn’t resist.
Is it me mo does that paint can look like it might be a transformer.
It looks all…technological and micro-chip-y
just a haha. not a lol. but not a 🙁 either.
Awesome. I enjoyed both the real comic and the guest one. Are there going to be any other webcomic parodies/mashups?
Not the best ever, but considering your recent string of good ones I can’t very well hold a screw up against you. It happens, and it’s not going to keep me from coming back next week.
On another note though, congratulations CK. I’m looking forward to more.
I love that movie. However, I do not love Billy Mitchell
Well, I do agree my comment is really harsh. I liked the two comics you mentioned, also. I’ve been a long-time reader, and I’ve come to like the many little details that Ray puts in all of his comics… but unfortunately, I couldn’t really find any. I’m just hoping next week’s will be better.
(Sorry if I sounded like a complete troll…)
I didn’t quite understand ’til I checked out the Wikipedia article. Now all is well. 🙂
Anyways, NCG. And Super Secret Comic Preview #130 was EVIL. I mean EEEEEEEVIL. Please, no more treating us like Tim. XDDDD
Oh and roadjcat – might want to check this out.
So…it’s red. Yippee? I’m aware Rouge means red. 😛
Though on reflection, it doesn’t mean red in that context…so it’s just weird.
Well…it was OK. Better than last weeks, but still not up to par with what you usually do.
This comic was good once…then came Lily…
~ Obilink
DUDE! You messed it up! Its “This comic USED to be good, until Tim had a baby”
I liked the comic as much as the guest one. If only there was a way to beat that screen, because the game would then logically loop to the beginning…
I like the shiny new look there, Tim.
Sleek and shiny, just like
your wifea brand new car.I don’t know what’s more creepy…that comment, or your new avatar (it reminds me of a new Sonic Character.)
I’m a shoe-in for the creepy comments section of the podcast, as I have no competition…
I think the whole site should start making gay jokes.
Gah, my grammar fails. I meant Creepier* not more creepy.
Meh, not really funny. Pac-man comics in general kind of bore me though. But man, fantastic artwork Ray, kudos.
…..and D3vin and his avatar are still creepy…
Full picture here: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/the_great_gonzales/otter_seeking_love.png
I’m not creepy, I’m Otterly adorable
I would hate to see you be creepy.
ZOMG FURRY
A quick question… what is that reflecting off of the screen? Is it a bomb, because it’s got that round-square thing at the top left… however, the same reflection seems different in panel 3 than in panels 1 and 5. Just wondering.
Ha HA! I love it! This is the kind of jokes that keep me coming back every week. Keep up the great work! Kill screen lol
Also one for Tim… Author comments aren’t highlighted anymore! Common man, you went from only Highlighting yourself, to finally finished giving Highlights to Ray only to put up a new script without highlighting (at least for Ray… perhaps Tim has once again downgraded Tim’s status? xDD)
Ray got demoted from the Cartoonist to the Illustrator.
[spoiler]I got promoted to Creepy Commenter second class![/spoiler]
Hey guys, Graverising here. Been following the comic for a couple months, love it. Been listening to the podcast for a couple of days now at work, and it’s great. Just letting you all know that the parking lot of the Minuteman National Park is clean, once again, thanks in part to the help of 2PStart.
Eeeehehe Kill Screen 😀
Great comic, guys 🙂 I’ve also just risen from my graaaaave o_o
Mainly, just came to comment and say – even though it’s not featured in this comic – your knobbly elbows totally creep me out..
As the guy who draws BitF, imagine my surprise when I clicked on the guest comic!
I enjoyed today’s strip, for what it’s worth.
Ha! Glad you enjoyed both comics! BitF is probably the comic I respect the most, similar humor to 2P START!
Heh, yeah I got the idea partially from the “Mash ups” thread on your forums, and partially from the comparisons people made between 2P Start!’s Kirby joke and your “Kirby eats something” comics. I’ve been meaning to post it over there, but I hadn’t gotten around to creating an account yet…
But yeah, 2P Start! and BitF are definitely my two favorite webcomics (in no particular order). Both are consistently funny, and I especially like how they both keep it clean.
Whats with some people having Orange outlines? Are those the people who have been here early or whatever?
Orange outlines are gone now, and replaced with GOLD STARS!
They are for ‘Premium Members’, those that meet certain requirements exhibiting dedication to 2P START! I’ll be reviewing the list again soon to see if others should be added.
Well, I’ve been around since Untold Origins, and I have gotten a Premium Member email (the one about the Track Spirit wallpaper I think), but I don’t seem to have a star.
Although it’s possible that it’s because I haven’t actually really logged in, but simply commented without logging in.
Yeah, I logged in and it’s there.
Don’t mind me then…
Cool, One down, around a hundred nineteen to go!
(Mario 64 reference.)
SHINE GET!Aww, no * for Wyrm.
Although GJ to Tim! Ray’s is now RED like his text and TIM blue. That’s mad awesome. <3.
Well ours were a spiffy orange, but somebody thought stars were better! 😛
Okay re reading that, it sounds far more obnoxious than I intended. XD Sorry.
It would have been better if we knew about the Kill Screen beforehand making it really a kind of an insider’s joke, frankly I’m just glad that 2p Start has lasted this long, if anyone wants an Idea of a webs comic run by two guys and suddenly just dying off here’s one: http://www.pressstarttoplay.net they were pretty good and remind me of 2p Start in a lot of ways but one day they just stopped existing, vg cats seems to be headed that way.
Actually, VG Cats seems to have been making a comeback recently, it’s started updating again.
He suddenly remembered he had a webcomic.
I don’t really have much comments for you guys lately… this week comic is good, make more sense after checking the link in Ray’s description, and Tim’s link remind me of the Live episode when you mentioned parodying other webcomic….. on a half unrelated note I’ll just add that I actually liked the ”A new power-up” comic (a.k.a. Mario on steriods… thinking about it I don’t think black doom’s that bad of a character, unfitting, but not THE worst character, maybe there’s just something wrong with my judgement, probably)
Hi guys
There’s that whole thing about “If you have to explain the gag, it’s probably not funny.”
So yeah, this one didn’t do it for me at all.
Seriously, you guys usually come up with better ones than this.
And before I get vilified with the whole “Tim & Ray do this for nothing. You should be grateful. Blah blah yakkity-yakkity!”, let me say that I’m a huge fan and totally love what Tim and Ray do…I just think they didn’t do what they normally do this time around…
Looking forward to the next one.
Haha, while for the most part, your quote is true… but this gag is video-game related… and the fact that kill screens exist on older-esk arcade titles to me was quite funny.
I feel though that perhaps this comic was funnier for … more older comic readers (as in actual age, not when they started reading it). To me, the mythical kill screen as a kid was something strange and wonderous.
Perhaps this comic was made 10 years too late?
It should have been packaged as an insert with “King of Kong”….
Oh goodness, I just had an awesome idea… a 2P Start! Movie!
Ray played by Keanu Reeves
Tim played by a young Sean Connery
😀
I’m surprised so many people didn’t know about the kill screen. It makes me feel so old.
I actually never made through Pac-Man to that point, but my father did (he’s a Pac fanatic). He actually though our PC at the time had crashed (just to give an idea how old our pc was, it was a pre-windows, pre-color XT running on DOS. good times)
Did Pac-Man come on a 5 1/2 or 8″ floppy? xDDD.
I prefer the big ones because they hold more memory, but you have to fold them up to fit them into these new computers.
Haha, I can see the reminants of the circuit board in panel 3 that he used in the pacman comic. Lazy and yet referenceable.
Oh my god, I’ve just realized the horrible secret of 2Pstart… Tim has made a deal with the dinosaurs that lurk below us at the center of the earth, and in exchange for a swimming pool full of money, he has agreed to father the first of many dino super soldiers. Ray must have been trying to warn us for some time, but in the 12 comics since the announcement of Tim’s baby, his message has become more apparent, hiding clues in comics.
#117: The two days marked after 2Pstarts death read “garbage and crap” rather than podcast and comic, a foretelling of the all the slave labor us humans must do in the garbage and crap mines.
#118: This comic was purposely made to be terrible in order to redirect our attention to #117
#119: All of the homes are being sold by inhuman monsters elves, mushroom men, polar bears, weird turtle people, TOM NOOK! It predicts the concerning of the human race.
#120: the video is a distraction, the real message is that pac-man (Tim) is destroying all of the ghosts (humans) in an attempt to wipe out their race.
#121: Why is Tim’s voice not recognized? Because as part of his deal with the dinosaurs, his is no longer human, a sort of, half human half dinosaur like those in land of the lost, all of our strengths and non of our weaknesses.
#122: Miamodo represents Ray, showing that although he is mighty, he cannot do much alone.
#123: This comic is a documentation of Tim and Ray’s relationship, they were friends in the beginning, but will soon be locked in mortal kombat.
#124: The anguish on Ray’s face speaks for itself.
#125: Mega man represents Ray as he shows that he cannot restore health to the world alone
#126: This Kirby comic was made to direct us the brawl in the family, which is either made by Ray himself under a different name, or by one of his contacts in the dino-rebellion, as each one of the 702 comics is a warning of some kind.
#127: Ray isn’t getting threw to us, he’s just “talking to the backs of our heads”
#128: All hope is lost
#129: a showing of the horrible torture that we are to endure if the dinosaurs are to take back the surface.
#130: This is a call to arms.
“It should have been packaged as an insert with “King of Kong”….
Oh goodness, I just had an awesome idea… a 2P Start! Movie!
Ray played by Keanu Reeves
Tim played by a young Sean Connery
:D”
Comments don’t nest very far, and quoting seems impossible now. >:-(
Anyway, as I was saying, why not have Tim and Ray played by… well, Tim and Ray?
D3vin played by Jim Carey
Gadoink played by Arnold Schwarzenegger
also starring Captain Lou as Mario
and
Jaleel WhiteSteve Urkel as SonicComing fall 2010
I’m about as far away from Schwarzenegger as you can get, man.
The other day though, someone said I look like Tom Cruise.
Adam Sandler as BulimicKoala
UltimateDK as himself (no one else is good enough to play this role 😛 )
John Leguizamo as CKcheeseboy
Jim Gaffigan as Roadjcat
with cameos from Shingeru Miamoto and Billy Mitchell
Kuchiake no 2P! (2P Start!)
An Animated masterpeice by Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli.
*A plotless disaster piece made by the sonic team.
-SPOILER- Tim and Ray become Super Tim and Super Ray and fight A GIGANTIC SONIC TEAM FOR THE FUTURE OF EARTH with epic music playing.
Million Dollar idea right there, we should pitch it to Sonic Team
D3vin you’re awesome. He looks nothing like me, but I don’t care.
Oh and Wyrm, don’t forget about the last minute help from Rouge!
I think most of us are getting comment of the week :/
Or not :/
I’m going to go with “or not” considering there are usually only two comments chosen. haha
@roadjcat
Thanks, I remembered you liked him, so why not have your favorite actor/comedian/etc. portray you in an epic movie?
😉
Yeah, but I’m surprised you remembered. I don’t talk about him even close to as much as Rouge, Metroid, or 5 million other things. XD
Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon, Axolotls just to name a few…
[spoiler]Rouge[/spoiler]
Wow axolotls? You remember that one too? Maybe I talk about these things more than I thought. haha
No, I just know when you had a Dr. whatshisface from Animal crossing as your avatar… and the forum thread about it 😉
Are you complaining? OK, Roadj played by an athletic blonde woman or a bat lady. Much better.
How did that sound like I was complaining? 😛
Woohoo! I have a star now!!!!
You could have bought one from Toad for fifty coins, or have Boo steal one from a random player for the same price…
Oh how did I not expect a Mario reference…
*Uses Boo Bell*
Muahaha soon all the stars will be MINE
Wait, isn’t buying a star usually only 20 coins? I guess whats happening in the world today even effects the Mushroom Kingdom’s economy…
I haven’t played a Mario Party since 3, so they may have changed the mechanics…
But it’s been 20 coins forever… 😛
Like I said, I haven’t played one since 3, so my memory is a bit hazy…