Irritability (webcomic)

Infobox webcomic|
title = Irritablility


caption =
author = Mike E. Woodson
url = [http://maze.icomix.com/comicpage/index1.html http://maze.icomix.com/comicpage/index1.html]
status = Updates occasionally
began = 1998 [http://maze.icomix.com/comicpage/browse.php?index=1]
ended =
genre = Comedy
ratings =

"Irritability" is an irregularly updated webcomic by Mike E. Woodson. Originally appearing in The Daily Texan (the University of Texas at Austin student newspaper), it now appears on his website. It has run since 1998.

"Irritability" is primarily about the fantastic interacting with modern day life, most notably elements from roleplaying games and anime. For example, a man is saved from a rockslide because his HMO required he wear an earth-elemental damage ring. Magical creatures and mecha abound, and most of the main characters have supernatural powers. "Irritability" started out as a text story which is available on the site, but which Woodson doesn't recommend to anyone. It was then a college strip, and so became a comic about college, but gradually evolved and now goes pretty much wherever it pleases.

"Irritability" is rife with satire and includes parodies of superheroes, anime (such as Fushigi Yūgi), and common elements of roleplaying games, such as status ailments and characters who are obsessed with treasure. Many of the strips end on complete non-sequiturs and the characters seem resigned to the often nonsensical nature of the world they live in. Other common threads in the comic are the fictional country of Vedica, which many of the characters with supernatural powers hail from, mad science, and fantasy-style adventuring being a common hobby to the point of having its own magazines.

Overall, despite the often surreal nature of the strip, "Irritability" gives the impression of having a consistent setting, which sets it apart from many strips that rely upon the strange-meets-mundane comedy formula.

Every so often Mike does a 24-hour comic, a comic project thought up by Scott McCloud in which the goal is to do a 24-page comic in 24 hours. The 24-hour comics are separate from the strips, but fit into the "Irritability" continuity, an example being when Exoth was so lazy that he spent around a year sitting on a couch in the main comic strips and only got up and started doing things again in a 24-hour comic, after which he was seen being active in the main strips again.

Characters

None of the main characters could really be called heroes, in fact, most of them display a blatant disregard for the well-being of others or even themselves. (Beireia: "Don't you even have a self-preservation instinct?" Exoth: "I suppress it.")

*Chappy Chappy - A super-strong idiot with pyrokinesis. Chappy finds thinking inconvenient, and would much rather stab and/or burn things. He has lived in the Banana House ever since his roommate kicked him out for turning him into a zombie head on a cart. His weakness is oranges.
**Special powers: Pyrokinesis; Indignant Fist Attack; Can make sword appear at will.

*Exoth - An immortal nihilistic evil genius. Exoth has been known to become extremely lazy at times, make terrible puns, and invent absurd things. He's histrionic and narcissistic. He also will throw himself into harm's way to damage his opponent, and it is not uncommon for him to blow up the entire universe. His creations usually turn against him, but his army of Jumbo Crows have thus far remained loyal.
**Special powers: "Look over there!" attack; Pet-Purchase Prevention Punch; Can plant a severed arm in the ground and grow a new body; Has an extremely poisonous body; Can survive being cut to pieces, then put himself back together; Can blow up the world, then fix it again by the next comic.

*Beireia - An irritable young woman who hates both Chappy and Exoth but regularly deals with them regardless. She lives in the Banana House, since Exoth blew up her apartment, and works in the Forest of Peril.
**Special Powers: Wields a spear that is actually a shape-shifting insect.

;The Banana family

*Victor Banana - The father (and Chappy's old friend) who "usually" occupies the role of straight man but is sometimes affected by the weirdness of the strip.
**Special Powers: Banana Beam.

*Ionil Banana - The mother who comforts Victor and tries to keep her house in order despite the efforts of the other characters.

Victor and Ionil were apparently adventurers themselves in the past.

*Tatanya Positronic Banana - The daughter who idolizes Chappy, Exoth, and Beireia and slowly becomes more like them: violent and obsessed with treasure.
**Special Powers: Banana Beam.

;Exoth's minions

*his assistant, a young punk named Robot (who is not a robot), who, like Tatanya, is becoming influenced by the weird people he hangs around with. He is stuck working for Exoth because Exoth saved his life when he was ill, and forces him into it.

*Ourorya - Exoth's first student and an assassin. He has telekinetic power and has the ability to use his car in his attacks. Was once one of Exoth's enemies.
**Special Powers: Weapon burying; Ieszen Gedre techniques (see below).

*Enne - Exoth's second student. Loves chocolate. Also the author of the "Unicorn Princess" series of books.
**Special Powers: Ieszen Gedre techniques (see below).

*Pendenne - A woman from the future (the year 2033) who never fails to point out how superior the future is to the present.
**Special Powers: Shrinks instead of starving when she doesn't eat.

*Head-Leg - A failed experiment of Exoth, who uses him in further experiments, often resulting in Head-Leg's death. There have been many Head-Legs over time, as Exoth must re-clone him every time he dies. Nobody likes Head-Leg, and Exoth in particular seems to enjoy torturing him and depriving him of any joy.

Ourorya and Enne are masters of the "Ieszen Gedre" martial art, which gives them many mystical abilities. Known abilities include: Telekinetic Power; Superhuman skills at ski-ball, minigolf, and bowling; Surviving a gunshot to the face (by only uses 0.5% of one's neurons); Smashing through everything in one's way to move in a straight line.

;Tatanya's Classmates
*Gasoline Girl - A classmate of Tatanya's who often gets caught up in Tatanya's adventures.
*Xcilla - A classmate of Tatanya's who less often gets caught up in Tatanya's adventures. Her parents were mathematicians who couldn't quite agree on her name, so it contains a variable.

;Other characters
*Officer Death - A cyborg police officer who attempts to arrest Chappy.
*Scary Larry - A vampire Exoth met at night school.
*Robot's Mom - Robot's mother, whose name has not been revealed. She and Robot live in a trailer which is parked in Exoth's garage.
*Ninja Professor - A teacher at the college the characters sometimes attend.
*Shoko Togakushi - A reporter.
*Sheriff Amoeba - A floating amoeba with a sheriff's star. He usually mocks the rest of the characters.
*Exoth's Rival - A fellow mad scientist. He has a robotic assistant named H.U.M.A.N. which looks just like Robot.
*Polly - Bereia's co-worker at the Office of Peril.
*Miss Abinger - Tatanya's teacher and possibly an ex-adventurer. She strongly resembles Emeraldas (from Queen Emeraldas).
*Velel - Chappy's cousin and Exoth's boss. Rarely appears except to criticize the strip's other characters.

Art style

Woodson's art style is influenced by anime but has its own unique style. The strip is usually in black and white, with color strips appearing roughly once every 100 strips.

External links

* [http://maze.icomix.com/comicpage/index1.html "Irritability" website.]
* [http://maze.studio-zoe.com/comicpage/index1.html Mirror of "Irritability" website.]