Diesel Sweeties
Diesel Sweeties is a webcomic written by Richard Stevens III . The comic began in 2000, originally hosted at robotstories.com.
For the first several years, the comic consisted of four square panels of dialogue in a two-by-two grid, with a punchline in the final panel. In 2005 Stevens abandoned this traditional form and began consistently publishing strips with more panels in slightly more varied configurations. Single panels of the strip are occasionally animated. Although there is some character development and the occasional story arc, most strips are largely self-contained.
Encyclopedia
Diesel Sweeties is a webcomic written by Richard Stevens III . The comic began in 2000, originally hosted at robotstories.com.
For the first several years, the comic consisted of four square panels of dialogue in a two-by-two grid, with a punchline in the final panel. In 2005 Stevens abandoned this traditional form and began consistently publishing strips with more panels in slightly more varied configurations. Single panels of the strip are occasionally animated. Although there is some character development and the occasional story arc, most strips are largely self-contained. Recurring themes include the annual
Halloween strips, featuring characters from the comic in costume. The most distinctive aspect of the comic is the art style: the comic is made up entirely of large pixels , creating a clash between the content and the form.
Diesel Sweeties is part of the Dumbrella community of web comics.
The comic depicts a world where robots exist alongside humans, with human-robot romantic and sexual relationships commonplace.
Material from
Diesel Sweeties appears in
Ted Rall's
, along with other webcomics such as
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,
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,
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, and
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.
Characters
Diesel Sweeties incorporates many characters from other fictional works, from the real world, and introduces many original characters. The below list is by no means exhaustive.
Main Characters
As defined by the , the main characters in Diesel Sweeties are:
- Clango Cyclotron, an emotional robot. Introduced as the boyfriend of Maura Glee, the relationship later ended, and he is currently dating Pale Suzie. He was adopted by human parents, and has several famous human aunts and uncles, including Steve Jobs, Beck, Courtney Love, and Stan Lee. Introduced in strip .
- Maura Glee, an alcoholic ex-pornstar. Introduced as Clango's girlfriend, she has gone through a string of robots and boys since having been dumped. Introduced in strip .
- Indie Rock Pete, a poseur obsessed with the idea of maintaining a facade of indie cred. Attempts to manipulate the other characters, but usually fails. Introduced in strip .
- Lil' Sis, Maura's younger sister. Worked at a comic store for a time. Her first name is generally not mentioned, but was once stated as "Persephone" in strip . Was once featured as Faye's sister's lesbian lover in Questionable Content . Introduced in strip .
- Electron Mike, an extreme technophile who listens to techno music and collects iPods. Introduced in strip .
- Metal Steve, a mullet-sporting rocker. The virginal yin to Pete's lecherous yang. He has had ongoing flirtations with both Lil Sis and Pale Suzie, but neither has successfully bedded him. Implied to be unusually well-endowed; he was briefly recruited by Maura as a porn star for masturbation movies, but was run out of the business for refusing to work with a partner. Introduced in strip .
- Pale Suzie, a cheerful goth chick who went on a date with Clango, while he and Maura were "on a break". Currently going steady with Clango. Introduced in strip .
- Red Robot #C-63, a robot dedicated to the crushing of hu-mans, although he has also been known to date them on occasion. He is insanely wealthy after making a deal with Maura. Introduced in strip .
Minor Human Characters
Generally in the order of appearance. Also includes some animals.
- Collin, a technician who occasionally repairs Clango. Introduced in strip .
- Joel, a computer programmer. Introduced in strip .
- Charles, the token Canadian. Introduced in strip .
- Eve: A bisexual, she dated Lil Sis briefly, as well as Red Robot. She also went through a Christian phase. Introduced in strip .
- Pretty Carl, Maura's annoying but handsome ex-boyfriend. Introduced in strip .
- Nipples the Bear, a weird furry who always wears a blue bear costume with nipples. Nipples is implied to be a stand-in for Rich Stevens, the author. Introduced in strip .
- Ghost Zack, a goth boy who sometimes hangs out with Pale Suzie. Does not like Suzie's generally cheery disposition. Introduced in strip .
- Super Raoul, a shiny hispanic who shows up occasionally. Introduced in strip .
- Kevin, a heavy-metal friend of Metal Steve. Introduced in strip .
- John Stamos, Clango's black kitten. Although named after the male actor John Stamos, the kitten is a female. Introduced in strip .
- Roger, Clango's orange cat. Introduced in strip .
- Myspace Girl, a hipster who is into marine biology for the seahorses, and living the sheltered college life. Engages in witty repartee and has been known to hit on Indie Rock Pete. Introduced in strip .
Minor Robot Characters
- Johnny Toaster, a toaster of few words. Introduced in strip .
- Menace-11, a robot who is even more sinister than Red Robot. Also gay and sometimes a cross-dresser . Introduced in strip .
- Uncle Grandpa, a Macintosh SE computer, and Clango's Uncle Grandpa. Once ran for office. Introduced in strip .
- Torpor, a polite friendly robot who likes to lift things. Torpor is often a target of abuse for Red Robot and Menace-11 , and has been dismantled and rebuilt at least once. Introduced in strip .
Cameos from Other Comics and Fiction
- DIV from Penny Arcade in strip .
- Red Robot from Explodingdog in many strips, starting with strip .
- Roger from When I Grow Up is a webcomic [i] created by Jeff Rowland [i]. ...
in strip .
- Shelley Winters and Fallon Young from Scary Go Round is a webcomic [i] set in the fictional [i] town of Tackleford [i] ...
in strip .
- Shockwave from Transformers in strip .
- Tycho from Penny Arcade in strip and .
- Weedmaster P from Overcompensating in strip .
Cameos from Real People
Diesel Sweeties often shows pixelated versions of real people in the strip. Some of these people include:
- Jonathan Pater in strip and .
- Richard Stevens in strip .
- Jeffrey Zeldman in strip .
External links
