Electric Puppet Theatre -- Links

Welcome to the Electric Puppet links page -- make our twisted tastes your own! Similar comics/bands are listed near each other for your browsing convenience.

Comics
- Science
  - Mad
    
    Nukees
    Nuclear engineers, artificial life, and Guinness. Milk-out-the-nose funny.
    Narbonic
    The adventures of an evil genetics lab. Very funny, and one of the best plotted comics on the net. Completed, but currently re-running as a "Director's Cut".
    Hugo and Millie
    The adventures of two mice in Steampunk Edwardian England, rendered in awesome Gibson-esque pencils. Currently on hiatus, but rumored to be returning soon.
    Penny Dreadful
    Oliver Twist meets H.P. Lovecraft with hints of the Young Sherlock Holmes.
    Dresden Codak
    Beautiful exponent of the infinite canvas. Also, role-playing philosophers.
    Friendly Hostility
    Okay, the mad science in this is a bit peripheral, but still milk-out-the-nose funny. There's also demons, journalists, and world domination. Completed, but check out Stan's new comic Cat Sick.
    Tune
    An art school drop out takes a job as an exhibit in an alien zoo. Awesomely written by Derek Kirk Kim and drawn by Les McClaine.
  - Not so Mad
    
    Piled Higher and Deeper
    Grad student life at Stanford.
    Wasted Talent
    Diary comic from a Canadian engineer.
  - Commentary
    
    XKCD
    Love, Science, Math -- but you didn't need us to tell you about this one.
    Not invented Here
    Spot-on corporate coding humor. Like Dilbert for computer programmers with better art. (See also, Reptilis Rex)
  - Giant Robots
    
    Ataraxia Theatre
    A ligne claire mecha story by the author of the Gearhead games, interspersed with all manner of autobio, vole, and one-off comics.
    Adrastus
    Sarah Bryant goes from motorcycle racer to mecha pilot when she finds out about her hidden past. Fun, comic-book formatted adventure.
- Fantasy
  - Werewolves
    
    Family Man
    Scholarly werewolves in 19th century Germany. The painstakingly drawn and researched sequel to Bite Me!, Dylan Meconis's farce of vampires in the French Revolution.
    Paradigm Shift
    Cops and werewolves in Chicago -- Bebop-style banter and mayhem set against beautiful renderings of the city by the lake.
    Skin Horse
    Where's the shadow government when you need it? Drawn and co-written by Shaenon "Narbonic" Garrity.
    Monster Soup
    A werewolf, a vampire, a ghost, a zombie, and a fortune teller walk into a castle...
  - The Ghost of Benjamin Franklin
    
    A Girl and Her Fed
    A violent liberal, federal agents with disturbingly hacked heads, and a foul-mouthed koala. Hilarious and original (and currently being updated with snazzier art).
    Dr. McNinja
    He's a doctor. Who's also a ninja. Need we say more?
  - Zombies
    
    Dead Winter
    A poet/waitress finds her spine as she wields her mop against zombies post-apocalypse. Very subtle use of limited animation.
    Corporate Skull
    A disaffected worker engages in corporate skulduggery -- The Mask meets The Office.
  - Angels and Demons
    
    Darwin Carmichael is Going to Hell
    A very original mythos featuring unicorns, manticores, and an unfortunate Dalai Lama, rendered in bright water-colory digital tones.
    Dancing Solo
    "A fantasy adventure comic about a girl and her Dinosaur Companion".
    Sinfest
    Master of iconography Tatsuya Ishida mixes equal parts Swift and Waterson to make beautiful images telling you terrible things.
  - Horror
    
    Find Chaos
    A grisly tale somewhere between Neverwhere and Oliver Twist.
    Mockman Press
    H.P. Lovecraft fantasies rendered in Jason Thompson's wonderfully detailed line work. (See also King of RPGs).
  - Swashbuckling
    
    Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant
    Gorgeous full color two-page spreads from a veteran of the Flight anthologies.
    Rutabaga
    The cutest lil' swashbuckling chef!
  - Milieu
    
    Templar, Arizona
    A sumptuously drawn Neverland, with factions packed so close together that they can not help but tread on each other's adventures.
    Finder
    We just started reading this from the beginning and it's very much living up to its reputation. Any book that can drop references to Night of the Hunter and The Producers on the same page is definitely our cup of tea.
- Slice of Life
  - Four legs in the Morning
    
    A Moment of Clarity
    Sugar, caffeine, and video games from Inkscape developer Jim Bintz. Currently on hiatus (and interim project Dawn's Dictionary Drama appears to have wrapped as well).
    Sheldon
    The daily adventures of a ten-year-old software billionaire and his duck -- more than just an endearing version of The Social Network.
    Fox Trot
    A class act. Still going strong as a Sundays-only strip, with the occasional cameo like this.
    Alleged Whiskey
    Art deco adventures at a movie theatre/speakeasy, featuring adorable tykes straight out of the Smithsonian.
  - Two legs in the Afternoon
    
    The Introvert Manifesto
    Neal Skorpen starts from the premise that the norms of social interaction are shaped by the extroverted majority and revisits his introverted early years from this point of view. The comic has an art spiegelman feel to it, with hints of Daniel Pinkwater and William Sleator. Also, the cutest drawings of little Alain Jourgensen. (Just finished, but check out Neal's latest project: Aethernaut)
    Blue Monday
    Chynna Clugston's series about punk/mod/ska outsiders growing up in a small town. Hands down the best sound track in comics.
    Smithson
    Superheros, underground tunnels, secret cabals, and other typical scenes from college life. Neat experiments with the infinite canvas. Currently on hiatus.
    Dumbing of Age
    A more realistic reboot of Roomies/It's Walky/Joyce and Walky/Shortpacked.
    Nothing Better
    Freshmen at a small liberal arts college come to grips with art, love, and religion. And see also Tyler Page's new comic, Raised on Ritalin (but wait, there's more! Visit the Stylish Vittles store for massive pdfs of Page's comics with tons of process notes)
    Sordid City Blues
    "indie rock theological soap opera" -- the lives and loves of rock band Owns Big Mecha. "Over, for now".
    The Chairs Hiatus
    Three part, infinite-canvas comic about a band after the break-up.
    Questionable Content
    Deathmole, indie coffee talk, off-color anthro PCs, and superhero pizza delivery.
  - Three legs at Night
    
    The K Chronicles
    Keith "Marginal Prophets" Knight's weekly strip.
    The Knight Life
    Keith "Marginal Prophets" Knight's daily strip.
    Strangers in Paradise
    Second best sound track in comics (and the best long form comic we've read to date).
    The Norm
    Poetic riffs on the X generation.
    Yellow Peril
    The office humor strip by Jamie "Angry Zen Master" Noguchi. Designer angst, fusion cooking, and stealth cross dressing.
    Candorville
    Beautiful observational heir apparent to Bloom County.
    Girls with Slingshots
    "Two girls, a bar, and a a talking cactus"
    The Devil's Panties
    It's hard to say what a diary comic is about. The Devil's Panties is mostly about joy. Also, kilts and leaf blowers.
- Everything is Miscellaneous
  
  Zen Pencils
  "Cartoon quotes from inspirational folks"
  Lit Brick
  John Troutman draws his way through the Norton Anthology.
  Perry Bible Fellowship
  Wonderful one-offs with a dark sense of humor.
  Faraday the Blob
  Big, colorful, convoluted one-offs featuring an elf, a rabbit, and a blob.
  IDGet
  Oblique takes and whimsical adventures.
  Fleen
  "Home of the webcomics action news team!" For all of your keeping-up-with-webcomics needs.
  Just the First Frame
  A visual guide to the latest webcomics
Music
- Folk and Revival
  
  Noe Venable
  Out past Tom Waits and Tori Amos, where the wild things are, Noe Venable spins stories and soundscapes of tragic, gleeful beauty. Start with the live album Down Easy or her latest album, the coldly beautiful Summer Storm Journals.
  Kris Delmhorst
  Smokey folk songs in the singer-songwriter vein. Oddlot is a cheap and accessible place to start. Shotgun Singer and Songs for a Hurricane are the best in the way of lush and hypnotic sounds.
  Beth Orton
  Trance-like electronic folk with a captivating voice. Check out Central Reservation for the best of the electronic sound. If you like that, follow up with Trailer Park and Daybreaker. If stripped down folk is more your thing, try the wistful Best Bit EP or the happier Comfort of Strangers. (If the link to the official site doesn't work for you, try one of these).
  Susan's Harp Songs
  The YouTube channel for our friend Susan's celtic harp music. Your one stop shop for pretty harp songs and lively reels!
  Lee Press-On and the Nails
  Goth Swing in the spirit of The Forbidden Zone.
  Sour Mash Hug Band
  Cab Calloway/Django Reinhardt revivalists, as frequently seen at the Berkeley farmers' market.
  Rube Waddell
  Wailing, screaming, full-bodied hobo punk.
  Gogol Bordello
  Cross-culture immigrant punk. Full of energy.
  Rasputina
  Overdriven heavy metal cellos with a wicked sense of humor. We especially recommend the live album A Radical Recital featuring Zoe Keating
- Hip Hop
  
  The Marginal Prophets
  Keith "The K Chronicles" Knight's Hip-Hop band. Bohemian Rap CD features a live backing band and is a good place to start. Newer tracks like Six in the Morning see them moving in a funkier, Digital Underground sort of direction.
  Felonious
  Live band and mad beat boxing. Master exponents of the Hip-Hop opera.
- Avante Garde
  
  The Residents
  Cryptic exponents of the theory of obscurity and the phonetic theory of music. At once strange and achingly familiar. Without the Residents, there would be no Electric Puppet Theatre.
  The Fiery Furnaces
  Somewhere between the Residents and John Zorn, this sibling duo flits between musical ideas faster than you surf the net.
- Thrash Funk
  
  Primus
  "Psychedelic Polka" -- the preeminent, genre-defining thrash funk band. Once you've absorbed everything they have to offer, you'll be wanting to check out bassist Les Claypool's side projects. Here's our review of their latest album, Green Naugahyde.
  MIRV
  
  Originally formed from the Limbomaniacs line-up by guitar virtuoso MIRV Haggard to support the concept album Cosmodrome for Les Claypool's Prawn Song label, the band soon morphed to bassist Craig MacFarland, Fungo Mungo drummer Jeff Gomes and opera-singing, and fire-belching guitarist Brian "the Great" Kehoe (as seen in this clip from their 6/31/2001 show at Slim's).
  
  The MIRV rhythm section recently ganged up with Adam "Bob Cock" Gates of the Spent Poets to form the prog-pop band Madame Blavatsky Overdrive.
  
  DJ Disk
  "The Jimmy Hendrix of the Turntable". His Live at Slim's album, featuring Brain, Buckethead, and Les Claypool, is one of the all-time great live thrashfunk albums.
  System of a Down
  Wow! We recently picked up Steal this Album after meaning to listen to these guys for years. Hints of LARD, Primus, and Suicidal Tendencies with a heavy dollop of Faith No More. Definitely worth checking out.
- Metal
  
  Metallica
  Mmmm, Master of Puppets and Ride the Lightning... definitive metal.
  Kittie
  Our favorite head-banging music. We've enjoyed watching Kittie's albums oscillate between the L7ish hooks of debut Spit and the skull-crunching metal sludge of sophomore album Oracle. In the Black, comes close to striking a perfect balance, and has some of the best lyrics since Spit.
  Ministry
  Definitive industrial metal. Worth tracking down are the 12-inch single for Jesus Built My Hot Rod and The End of Days from swan song The Last Sucker, featuring Eisenhauer's "Military Industrial Complex" speech. Also, Pure Chewing Satisfaction from side-project LARD with Jello Biafra -- the pinnacle of head-banging tongue-in-cheek satirical metal.
- Techno
  
  Lo-bat
  Charming 8bit techno, like a pixelated version of Squarepusher (and he makes comics!)
  The Gotan Project
  Techno-tango from Paris.
Software
- Electric Puppet Theatre is pre-processed in the Gimp, inked and colored in Inkscape, lettered with a font created in FontForge, and version-controlled with git (more workflow details here).
- The Puppets record on a JACK-based system including Ardour, Audacity, vkeybd, fluidsynth, Hydrogen, and Rakarrack.
Gear
- Sara gets her laptops from Emperor Linux and digs the wicked fast tech support.
- Janice plays Buffet clarinets exclusively.