[ Jump Leads ] A British Sci-fi Comedy Webcomic

Posted by Ben in Some Other Things on October 10th 2008 @ 9:03pm GMT

Okay, I've had a few emails and comments from people who are concerned that the competition below means we're planning on making the comic more American in the future. Maybe they're misunderstanding the point of the contest. Who can say?

We're not going to be Americanizing the comic. Ever. That's... y'know, that's bollocks.

(Alright, I threw in the "bollocks" there to emphasize the Britishness of the thing. It might have been a bit much. I'm sorry. Would... would you like a hug?)

It's just a competition. We're asking you (that's you) to take a page of the comic that you like, and change the dialogue to better suit an American audience. The best three entries get a copy of Jump Leads Vol.1: Tales From The Flurry for free. Because it's a competition. For fun. See? We're not Americanizing the comic at all. We have much more common sense than that

So if you want to win a copy of the book, drop us your entry in an email. Alternatively you can drop us an email telling us how much we shouldn't Americanize the comic and if we do you'll never read it again and we'll regret it.

Actually that last part was a joke. Please don't email me asking us not to Americanize the comic, because we're already busy not doing that.

16 Comments

Posted by Aldo on October 10th 2008 @ 10:19pm GMT

Ok, that was just one guy who has trouble reading, right? There's not actually a whole bunch of people who jumped to that conclusion?

Posted by Ben on October 11th 2008 @ 7:54pm GMT

Two comments, and a butt-load of emails.

Posted by Catherine on October 11th 2008 @ 8:26pm GMT

People got concerned when you started spelling "Americanize" with a z. You've become one of us!

Posted by Don Forrester on October 13th 2008 @ 2:42am GMT

You're doing a webcomic, which is a predominantly American art form, considering the medium... about a space-faring, dimension-hopping duo, which is turf that's been covered by numerous Americans--such as in Sluggy Freelance... there are alien slug-things that take over your body, which is a concept made famous by American works such as Stargate, Slither, The Puppet Masters by Robert Heinlein... I haven't seen an extraneous letter U anywhere... I didn't even KNOW you were British until this contest started. How exactly can you Americanize this comic more than it already is?

I'm not trying to be insulting, I happen to like American culture quite a bit. I just don't see what point you're trying to prove, here.

Posted by Ben on October 13th 2008 @ 5:27am GMT

I don't think I'm particularly trying to prove anything, really.

Posted by Euan on October 13th 2008 @ 1:26pm GMT

"here are alien slug-things that take over your body, which is a concept made famous by American works such as Stargate, Slither, The Puppet Masters by Robert Heinlein" - I haven't read/seen any of these.

I was more inspired by "Wrath of Khan" and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" to be honest. Also "Alien" but that's less apparent for the casual observer.

Posted by Drew on October 15th 2008 @ 6:50pm GMT

Is there really that much of a difference between the US and UK? I mean besides a few linguistic idioms there really isn't much is there?

Posted by Ben on October 15th 2008 @ 7:10pm GMT

Believe me, there's quite a culture divide. Case in point: I still get weirded out when I hear people casually talking about their gun collections, and going to the shooting range, and so forth.

Posted by Catherine on October 15th 2008 @ 11:56pm GMT

That's (guns) not a good example, you've got weapons all over your comic. Anyway, you're not like the Farscape writers who decided "Our main character deals with his alienation by constantly spouting 20th century American pop-culture references."

Posted by Ben on October 16th 2008 @ 2:32am GMT

Meaney and Llewellyn haven't yet fired guns themselves, though, have they? Yes, they've *held* weapons, but that's not the same thing. I've held a shotgun before, but I have no intention of firing one.

Posted by Andrew on October 16th 2008 @ 9:54am GMT

Guns as weapons is one thing. The American/British divide is more on the idea of guns for their own sake. We see guns as a tool for officially sanctioned people and for criminals -- which is how they've been used in Jump Leads. Texans see them as a hobby. Collect guns, shoot guns, kill shit. Then tea. I think that scares many British people a bit.

Posted by Catherine on October 16th 2008 @ 3:53pm GMT

...
Clearly I am underarmed in this debate. So...Jump Leads could be "Americanized" if you interpolated some scenes of Meaney and Llewellyn engaging in target practice or affixing some cannons to the Flurry?

Posted by Michelle Osorio on October 20th 2008 @ 2:49am GMT

Being an American who enjoys shooting guns for sport, maybe I'll take a page from your comic where someone is holding a gun and change the speech bubble to say, "This is way more boring than shooting stray pets, gang bangers, illegal immigrants and my 12 year-old best buddy (on accident, of course)." That should fulfill every stereotype. On a more serious note, I am considering taking a page of Jump Leads and Americanizing it by changing every line to "YEEE-HAW!" and "Right on, Brother!" With a very hard "r" at the end there, mind you.