PvP, also known as Player Vs. Player, is among the most popular webcomics currently online, written and drawn by author Scott Kurtz, with around 100,000 unique visitors per day (as of August 2005).^*

It chronicles the adventures of a fictional video game magazine company and its employees. A popular but often controversial figure in the field of online comics, Kurtz is usually willing to share his opinions about comics and gaming culture in his blog, which is hosted on the same website as his comic strips.

Originally, PvP focused on video gaming and the larger "nerd culture" including comics and RPGs. Over the years, the humor has broadened to include technology jokes, relationship humor, in-jokes about and mocking of the generation gaps between the different characters, with gaming increasingly taking a back seat. Kurtz occasionally comes under fire for his satire.

The first online strip was posted on Monday, May 4 1998 Kurtz updates the strip every day, and it it has rarely missed an update since its inception. In April 2005, Kurtz changed to a Monday through Friday schedule, with Friday's strip in color and sketches on Saturday and Sunday, in response to the mounting work he had taken on as a monthly comic at Image and associated side projects. On June 4, 2005, Scott Kurtz posted on his blog that he was returning to the daily schedule. Although the strip was initially formated 2x2 to fit on 800x600 resolution screens, it switched to "widescreen" on February 3, 2003 [http://www.pvponline.com/archive.php3?archive=20030203.

Print versions

Previously, Dork Storm Press printed 6 issues of original content as well as a trade paperback of online strips. The Dork Storm issues were collected into a trade paperback entitled "The Dork Ages."

In March 2003, Image Comics began publishing a monthly print comic book collection of the strip that combines old strips with new material. As of April 2006 25 issues have been released, as well as a 16-page primer (numbered as #0), and three trade paperbacks (each collecting 6 issues) - "PvP: At Large" (#1-6), "PvP: Reloaded" (#7-12), and "PvP Rides Again" (#13-18).

At the 2004 San Diego Comicon, Kurtz announced that he would offer to newspapers the entire PvP series to reprint for free ^*, but only if the strips were reprinted without any changes made. Kurtz said he made this offer because of his dissatisfaction with the terms offered to cartoonists by syndicates. As of yet no major American newspaper has agreed to regularly pick up his strip, even though it is free. One newspaper, The Kansas City Star, briefly ran one PvP comic per week in the fall of 2004.

Kurtz's work for Image Comics was nominated for a 2005 Eisner Award for "Best Writer/Artist—Humor."

Characters

• Cole Richards ^* - the boss. A committed family man, he has a rather loose grasp of new technology and is often nostalgic for 1980s pop culture. In a newer running gag, he and Brent often jump a bridge in a forest area in a 1969 Dodge Charger a la The Dukes of Hazzard. He is also in possession of the De Lorean from Back to the Future.
• Brent Sienna ^* - master cynic, creative director of the magazine, coffee addict/snob, Jade's Boyfriend, and Apple Computer (and recovering Amiga) fanatic. His apathetic attitude towards everything frustrates his co-workers. Was an elementary school art teacher. He is also the master at insults (temporarily lost his insulting power when he cut his pony tail off) and drives a Mini Cooper as a "statement". A running gag in the strip is that whenever the word "Panda" is mentioned (previously "Giant Panda") Brent is immediately mauled by one.
• Jade Fontaine ^* - A columnist, and Brent's girlfriend. She plays MMORPG style games, such as EverQuest and World of Warcraft, and also chatting online with friends she's made in the series. She is often criticised for being "unrealistic," even though Kurtz states that he based her character on his wife.
• Francis Ottoman- the youngest member of the staff. He works as technical support for the office (also writes the occasional review), he is currently working on a "he said she said" column with his "girlfriend(?)" Marcy. Easily excitable and always eager to be on the cutting edge of fads and technology, Francis represents every 'annoying kid gamer' stereotype. He loves his PC to an almost scary degree and routinely gets into arguments with Brent over Macs. He could be considered a young genius for the fact that he works for a gaming magazine at only age 16, but he claims he only took the job so he could play video games all day long. Also, Cole mentions that he knew Francis's mother from high school so it may be a favor for Francis's mom. His appearance has gone through the most changes. His first artwork was choppy and caused reader confusion due to readers mistaking a zit on his mouth and his mouth as a jagged chin or part of his hair T-shirt (not the troll, an actual skull) and messed up moussed hair (the mousse may actually be Skull's phleghm.).^*" target="_blank" > He has also recently decided to let his hair grow a bit longer. [http://www.pvponline.com/archive.php3?archive=20060411
• Skull - a lovable troll who is assigned to be a mythological animal friend to Brent a la Pete's Dragon, although the cast currently believes he is assigned to Francis. Nervous and childlike, he has an occasional girlfriend named Sonya, although technically Skull has no gender. Originally from another web cartoon about Ultima Online by the same author, called "Samwise". In the early years of PvP, Skull was much meaner, and would talk about punching Brent in the face ^*. However, in recent years, he has transformed into an utterly harmless, rather clueless creature who doesn't even seem to understand the nature of violence. The comic's cast page states that, as a mythological creature, his only real need is attention, something not in short supply around the office.
• Robbie and Jase ^* - Two fat, beer swilling, drop-outs who sit in the break room on an old sofa and play sports video games endlessly. Old friends of Cole's, they are kept employed mostly out of pity, and are only occasionally seen. Robbie has recently won the lottery and bought a mansion and employs a butler named "Butler". He also quit the magazine so he and Jase can play video games together without being hassled to actually produce anything. For a short period of time Max took away their sofa, games an beer, causing them to sober up, lose weight, and produce game reviews.
• Max Powers - archenemy and rival publisher of Cole. While seemingly jovial and outgoing, for some reason, Max is generally despised by the PvP crew. While perhaps not as truly evil as Brent and Cole claim, he can doubtlessly be quite annoying. [http://www.websnark.com/archives/2004/10/because_i_keep.html Here is an interesting analysis of this character. Owns and runs Powerplay magazine. Later merged with PvP to prevent PvP's certain financial ruin. Because of his narcissistic attitude, he is unable to see Skull, and is not aware of the troll's existence. Recently, Shecky punched Max as an 'incentive to see the world beyond their noses.' Unfortunately, Max now thinks Cole is letting the staff to keep a pair of 'dogs' and says the 'yappy one' (Shecky) snapped at his face. (See March 13, 2006 blog entry.)
• Marcy Weisnewsky - another intern. Francis's long time FPS opponent and romantic interest. Was originally referred as "Devilfish" as Francis only knew her as an online rival, and in fact he didn't even know she was a girl until Skull caused them to meet in person after substituting for Francis in an online fps tournament. She is an avid fan of anime and has had two artwork changes. She started out geeky and tomboyish, then an average 16 year old girl, and then back to geeky and tomboyish, much to Francis's displeasure. [http://www.pvponline.com/archive.php3?archive=20020423

Other recurring characters are:

• Gwen Dawson ^* - acquaintance of Sonya's and a radio producer. Gwen had a crush on Jade and kissed her once at party. Brent had a crush on Gwen before he knew she was a lesbian.
• Miranda Fontaine- Jade's younger sister. She is a sly coquette who aims to seduce most of the men on the PvP staff just to irritate Jade, not necessarily because she wants male attention. She has attempted to seduce the "handsome, young, powerful, and rich" Max Powers. [http://www.pvponline.com/archive.php3?archive=20050901
• Scratch Fury: Destroyer of Worlds - Skull's cat. Skull , granting him superhuman intelligence. Scratch is bent on global domination, but his evil plans for attaining it are often foiled by his feline foibles and proclivities [http://www.pvponline.com/archive.php3?archive=20040529" target="_blank" >^*.
• Kirby - Cole's pet basset hound. Scratch Fury, feeling that he needed an archenemy of his own stature, [http://www.pvponline.com/archive.php3?archive=20040919 used Skull's "genius machine" to grant him ten times the intelligence of a normal basset hound. Unfortunately, "ten times as smart as a basset hound" is still pretty stupid( zero multiplied by 1000 is still zero), but at least now he can talk (when he remembers he can talk).
• Sonya Powers ^* - Skull's girlfriend. She does not seem to mind that Skull is apparently genderless. Sonya is also the little sister of Max Powers, Cole's nemesis.
• Reggie ^* - Reggie is a blind, black friend of Brent's. He is very aggressive, and is very forthcoming about his disability. He was later hired by Max Powers when he started Powerplay. After the merger he began working at PvP. Based on a friend of Kurtz's.
• Donna Richards ^* - Cole's wife. Seldom seen in the more recent strips. In real life, Angie and Scott were married on February 24, 1996.
• Kurtz's Dad ^* - Although not a part of the official PvP Universe and therefore not normally seen with the other characters, Kurtz's dad, a German immigrant, occasionally appears in the comic to share his views on profanity, modern American culture, or whatever else happens to strike his fancy. Kurtz insists that everything the character says is transcribed from his real father's words.
• Francis Robot ^* - Also known as the Ottobot. Originally a robotic girlfriend built by Francis, the Robot was rebuilt and reprogrammed into a robotic clone of Francis, which took his place in front of a theater camping out for Episode III Revenge of the Sith. However, at some point between the time the robot was placed at the theater and the release date for Episode III, the theater was turned into an antique store. When Francis returned for the robot, it handcuffed him to a chair and took his place at the office. It was discovered that the robot was not really Francis when it shorted out while making out with Marcy. Scratch Fury has now turned the robot into a machine to disguise himself as a human and attempted to take over the town at by attacking the Mayor. The plan failed and the robot was taken as evidence after Scratch Fury escaped.
• The Panda In a long-running gag, Brent is occasionally, suddenly and inexplicably attacked by a giant panda (example). Brent brought The Panda in as a replacement for Skull after the troll ran away, but Brent quickly discovered that the Panda wouldn't take the kind of abuse Brent usually heaped on Skull. Recently, Brent was temporarily blinded ^*, suggesting that it mauls Brent for his fearful reaction, rather than for the sheer sake of mauling.
• Shecky: Skull's "baby cousin". ^* He is in fact an adult con artist by the name of Shekels Montgomery Troll. Soon after his appearance he stole Brent's wallet. Based loosely on W.C. Fields.
• Butler ^* - Robbie and Jase's Butler.

Running Gags

• Francis' "gaa-aayy" remark to statements taken out of context.

• The panda attacking Brent (or others like him^*) whenever he says the word "panda".

• Cole hearing things out of context, causing him to think 'hanky-panky' is going on.

• Skull guarding a door for Brent and finding different ways to keep Cole away.

• Cole and Brent's running Dukes Of Hazzard gag.

• Cole sporting a wizard's hat signifying that the next few strips will involve Dungeons and Dragons.

• Brent and Francis fighting over which is better: Macs or PCs.

• The "Fez of Power", which grants godlike gaming ability to the wearer.

• Breaking the "Fourth Wall" which inevitably leads to a character being beheaded.

• The fictional PVP Magazine has appeared many times as a prop in Real Life Comics, but has never appeared the PVP Comic itself. The only exception to this was on April 19, 2006, when Kristofer Straub did a guest comic on the subject. ^*

External links

• Audio interview with Scott, June 2006
• PvP's website
• Character descriptions
• Panda Attack & Djork PvP's World of Warcraft guilds comprised of PvP fans

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