The Ongoing Adventures of Rocket Llama

The Ongoing Adventures of Rocket Llama[1] is a webcomic starring "a high-flying llama, a sword-swinging cat, and a rocket as loyal as a cowboy hero's horse."[2] Created by Alex Langley while he was a student at Henderson State University, the comic first appeared in a comic book titled The Workday Comic.[3]

The Ongoing Adventures of Rocket Llama
Author(s)Alex Langley, Nick Langley
Websitehttp://www.rocketllama.com
Current status/scheduleUpdates 3 times per week.
Launch dateApril 2007 (comic)
July 2008 (webcomic)
Publisher(s)Rocket Llama World Headquarters, LLC
Genre(s)Furry/Comedy/Adventure

The Workday Comic
Left to right: Jacen Burrows, Jason Henderson, and Phil Hester examine The Workday Comic featuring Rocket Llama's debut while Rocket Llama Ground Crew members Nick Langley and Marko Head discuss the comic's creation during a Wizard World panel.[4]

For The Workday Comic comics anthology, a spin-off of Scott McCloud's 24-Hour Comics,[5] comics creators each wrote and drew their own eight-page stories in eight hours[6] in April, 2007, on Friday the 13th,[7] which turned into an ongoing publication.[8][9] Rocket Llama debuted in one of the first issue's six stories,[10] the first story completed.[6]

Co-presenting with comics author and scholar Danny Fingeroth (Dazzler, Spider-Man, Superman on the Couch) during a Comics Arts Conference panel at 2008's Comic-Con International in San Diego, California, the creators explained how the first Rocket Llama story evolved into a webcomic.[11][12] Whether despite the original story's childlike art or because of it, the Rocket Llama story proved to be the most popular in the 2007 anthology collection of the eight-hour comics.[13] After comic artist Stephen R. Bissette, an instructor at the Center for Cartoon Studies and comic book artist best known for his work on Swamp Thing with Alan Moore, read all of the stories in the first volume of The Workday Comic, he remarked, "That llama's gonna stick with me."[14]

Debut story

The full title of Rocket Llama's debut story in The Workday Comic No. 1 (spring, 2007) was "The Ongoing Adventures of Rocket Llama #112: 'Trouble in Paradise'".[15] The story introduced the taciturn hero Rocket Llama and his talkative sidekick, an anthropomorphic cat named Bartholemew 'Bart' Meowsenhausen, who find themselves stranded on an island after a battle with an enemy called Jetpack Dog. Spherical islanders capture them and then challenge them to combat. A villain named Böwser vön Überdog arrives with Jetpack Dog and, in a sudden Star Wars parody, summons a giant robot known as the Super Robot Dog Walker which blasts a volcano to bits. Before it can fire a second blast, Rocket Llama destroys it by getting it to swallow a pot of water and backfire. The story ends with Böwser tied up and the heroes using the giant robot dog head as a boat to get themselves home, with the promise of the next story to be titled, "Yuck! Yukon!"[16]

E-zine
Ezine contributor Action Flick Chick interviews The Incredible Hulk star Lou Ferrigno. 2008.[17]

Following Zuda Comics' style guidelines,[18][19] Nick Langley redrew the story with a less childlike drawing style in webcomic form for online publication[20] as the flagship title for the website rocketllama.com. The Rocket Llama World Headquarters e-zine has an affiliation of websites featuring webcomics, art, entertainment reviews, and scholarly studies of comics.[21]

With support from university resources, the creators assembled a "herd your nerds" support system of contributors working together.[22][23] In addition to The Ongoing Adventures of Rocket Llama, e-zine features from the Rocket Llama Ground Crew include Action Flick Chick movie reviews[24][25] by G4TV's Next Woman of the Web,[26] cosplayer[27] Katrina Hill;[28][29] The Action Chick webcomic;[30][31] Marko's Corner comics, cartoon arts, and podcasts by Marko Head; Reddie Steady comics for college newspapers; The Workday Comic, the 8-hour comics which spawned Rocket Llama; You Can't Do That on the Internet film crossover comics; interviews (e.g., Blair Butler,[32] Dan DiDio,[33] Steve Niles,[34] Seth Green[35]); convention reports;[36][37] gaming news;[38] blogs;[39] and other articles.

Online comic

Saturday Night Live writer/The Zombie Survival Guide author Max Brooks shows off his Rocket Llama patch.

The online story featured a new cover[40] and omitted a one-page gag, a preview for an unrelated Stealth Potato comic, which had appeared as an intermission in the middle of the original story.[41] The original story also appeared online as the comic's "ashcan copy."[42]

The authors present the Rocket Llama stories metafictionally as the world's oldest comic book, established in 1916,[21] which they allegedly rediscovered and are adapting into webcomics. "Deep underground, in an archaic vault we searched until we found the fabled tales. As both the current production team behind The Ongoing Adventures of Rocket Llama and appreciators of such groundbreaking literature, we have taken it upon ourselves to restore these classic issues to a glory more befitting a modern, digital age."[43]

Although every "issue" is presented with panels and screens in the correct order for each story, the issues are presented out of order as if readers were discovering old issues of a classic comic book in a seemingly haphazard order, however they come to find them. After the redrawn number #112's online publication came the serialized time travel story #136–137, "Time Flies When You're on the Run," appearing one page at a time throughout each week[44][45] and expanding the cast with characters like the scientist Professor Percival Penguin and cavedogs who joined them by stowing away in the heroes' time rocket during the supposed previous issue. Issue No. 152 followed with "The Tomb of Nosfur-Rattu".[46]

Special Rocket Llama Says bonus features appear only in "ashcan" form drawn by the original creator.[47] The only "modern" comic has been a one-page Halloween cartoon, supposedly an excerpt from issue #1110.[48]

Kidjutsu, an all-ages webcomics site which publishes series such as Inverloch (webcomic) and Dandy & Company, publishes completed Rocket Llama issues.[49] Palace in the Sky Publishing also carries the series.[50]

Characters
  • Rocket Llama (llama)
  • Bartholemew 'Bart' Meowsenhausen (cat)
  • Henry 'Ahoy' Dingo (dingo)
  • Professor Percival Penguin (penguin)
  • Camwyn Godfrey (dog)
  • Cavedogs (King Zug, Princess Oonga, Bonk, etc.)
  • Buzz Hawkins (koala)
  • Katherine O'Haira (cat)
  • Chef Paulie (bear)
  • Chef Gustav (goat, retired)

Antagonists
  • Böwser vön Überdog (bulldog)
  • Jetpack Dog (poodle)
  • Islanders (??)
  • Super Robot Dog Walker
  • Baron Havelock Rivendare (cat)
  • Ambrose (camel)
  • Garibaldi the Minuscule Mastermind (gerbil)
  • Nosfur-Rattu (vampire rat)

Spin-off comic: The Action Chick

After website contributor Action Flick Chick Katrina Hill became G4TV's official Next Woman of the Web,[28] she and the Rocket Llama creators spun off her Action Chick avatar which originated with Rocket Llama off into the character's own webcomic[51] The Action Chick.[52] In the comic, Hill becomes her avatar in the style of James Cameron's Avatar,[53] with Sigourney Weaver, Richard Crenna, and various Predators appearing as supporting cast in movie parodies and mockups of popular culture.

gollark: And there are exactly 4 other people online...
gollark: Wow, you're exactly 4 vapourisations ahead of me.
gollark: Really? Because 6_4 seems to have done it.
gollark: To monopolize ender dragon access, obviously.
gollark: `ni-ctl` is my most modern following implementation, but I previously just did it with an incredibly trivial script.

References
  1. "Rocket Llama World Headquarters". Rocketllama.com. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  2. "The Ongoing Adventures of Rocket Llama". The Web Comic List. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  3. Kez (March 29, 2009). Palace in the Sky Webcomic News: An Interview with Alex and Nick of Rocket Llama! Retrieved April 12, 2009. Archived April 1, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  4. Phil Hester, Jason Henderson, Jacen Burrows, Nick Langley, & Marko Head. (November 10, 2008). Can College Prepare Creators for Comics Careers? Panel presented at Wizard World Texas. Arlington, Texas.
  5. Friday WonderCon 2008 Programming Schedule. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 25, 2008. Retrieved January 10, 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. Langley, N., & Duncan, R. (2008). The Workday Comic: Adapting the 24-Hour Comic to an Academic Setting. Academic Forum, 25, 7–14."Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 28, 2010. Retrieved January 12, 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. Waddles, Joshua. (2007, April 2). Comic book club puts in a full day's work. Archived January 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine The Oracle vol. 99 (25), p. 3.
  8. Beard, Sarah. (2008, August 25). Comic Arts Club offers excitement. The Oracle, vol. 101 (1), p. 5.
  9. Langley, N. (2008, February). The Workday Comic: Day One. Presented at the Comics Arts Conference, WonderCon. San Francisco, California.
  10. Ink Inferno Episode 12: The ERIICA Project. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 20, 2009. Retrieved January 10, 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. T. Langley & R. Duncan, panel moderators, with respondent Danny Fingeroth. (2008, July). "Capes and Tights, Caps and Gowns." Panel presented at the Comics Arts Conference, Comic-Con International. San Diego, California.
  12. Pannell, E. (2008, July 27). Comic communication part of professors' classes. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, T-1, T-4.
  13. Hardiman, Morris. (2008, April 14).Club produces second annual workday comic. Archived January 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine The Oracle, vol. 100.
  14. Quoted in "The Workday Comic: Not Just One Third of a 24-Hour Comic." Comics Arts Conference, Comic-Con International. San Diego, California. July 27, 2008.
  15. Page 1.
  16. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 17, 2008. Retrieved August 13, 2008.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)The Workday Comic #1. Spring, 2007
  17. Wizard World Convention Report: The Incredible Lou
  18. Zuda Comics. Thinking of trying to become a Zuda Comics creator?
  19. "Webcomics Reviews & Interviews #72: Rocket Llama". Talkshoe.com. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  20. The Ongoing Adventures of Rocket Llama #112: "Trouble in Paradise." Script: Alex Langley. Art: Nick Langley.
  21. MacPaladin. Starship Moonhawk Presents: The origin and rocketing to stardom. Archived July 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  22. Head, Aron. (November 10, 2008). Wizard World Texas – Sunday at the Con. Retrieved from Newsarama Archived February 17, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  23. Wong, Eugene. "SDCC '09: Complete Friday Schedule". Angryweb.net. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  24. "Action Flick Chick's Super Action Page". Actionflickchick.com. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  25. Action Flick Chick's Summer Movie Preview. Somewhere in Vegas, Blog Talk Radio. Accessed May 6, 2009.
  26. IMDB: Katrina Hill (III).
  27. Burton, Bonnie (May, 2011). Costume Drama: Cosplay or Can't Play. SFX Magazine. p. 30
  28. "Women of the Web Contest Winner: Katrina". G4tv.com. December 30, 2009. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  29. Wired News: 'Action Chick' Looks at Comic-Con's Geek Girls
  30. "The Action Chick". Rocketllama.com. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  31. "Hour 42: Nick Langley on Action Chick & Paul Dini by El Secreto & Peter Pixie". Blogtalkradio.com. March 8, 2010. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  32. Interview: Blair Butler from Attack of the Show! Archived December 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  33. "Blog-It Llama! – » Interview: Dan DiDio (DC Comics Senior Vice President and Executive Editor) – Fickleness and Fascination". Rocketllama.com. June 9, 2009. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  34. "G4TV Videos – Viewer Army at the Dallas Comic-Con". G4tv.com. September 10, 2009. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  35. "Interview: Why Seth Green Loves Geek and Gamer Girls". Actionflickchick.com. September 24, 2010. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  36. "Closing Thoughts on Comic-Con". Rocketllama.com. August 9, 2008. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  37. "Hour 42 on Blog Talk Radio". Blogtalkradio.com. August 31, 2009. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  38. "[[Wrath of the Lich King]] – Our Beta Testploration". Archived from the original on October 22, 2008. Retrieved November 12, 2008.
  39. "Blog-It Llama! The Rocket Llama Ground Crew Has Plenty to Say". Rocketllama.com. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  40. "#137-Cover". Rocketllama.com. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  41. Sneak Peak at Stealth Potato #75.
  42. "Rocket Llama Ashcan Copy". Rocketllama.com. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  43. Who Is Rocket Llama? Archived September 14, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  44. "Time Flies When You're on the Run, Part 1." Script: Alex Langley. Art: Nick Langley.
  45. "Time Flies When You're on the Run, Part 2." Script: Alex Langley. Art: Nick Langley.
  46. Jessa Phillips. "Webcomic Wednesday: The Ongoing Adventures of Rocket Llama & Action Chick". Downloaded from Good to Be a Geek. May 18, 2011.
  47. e.g., "Tanks a Lot." Rocket Llama Says #8. Script and art: Alex Langley.
  48. Happy Halloween from Rocket Llama World Headquarters!
  49. Kidjutsu – Comics For Kids.
  50. "Palace in the Sky Science Fiction Comics Gateway". Palaceinthesky.com. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  51. Hour 42: Nick Langley on Action Chick & Paul Dini. Interview by El Secreto & Peter Pixie.
  52. "The Action Chick". Rocketllama.com. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  53. "The Action Chick – Action Chick Avatar". Rocketllama.com. February 3, 2010. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
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