17-05-18 In your friend zone

[Giz]

New strip! http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/in-your-friend-zone/

[LegendaryKroc]

Well, now. This is a fine turn of events. Very few are those whose webcomics live this long. I've seen big-time comic book runs that haven't lasted this long. Congratulations Giz.

And Dave too, I suppose. But you're not off the hook for Dangerously Chloe and all the associated ridiculousness. Just so we're clear about that.

[OllieOrOlly]

Happy 10th Anniversary, indeed!

I'm getting repetitive (again. Ha!), but worth mentioning the art has become polished over those ten years, and this update has another excellent display of emotional nuance in their expressions.

It is good that Zii is finally *confessing* her jealousy issues to Gary, as she may finally be able to grow... Although, the exploding libido gauge might paint a contrary picture. It isn't quite clear whether the tank is overloaded because Gary's swirly technique is "legendary" enough that Zii is thrilled at the prospect of receiving it, or if she is finding her libido break limits because she is simply excited at the prospect of mastering such a legendary move.

Well, now. This is a fine turn of events. Very few are those whose webcomics live this long. I've seen big-time comic book runs that haven't lasted this long. Congratulations Giz.

And Dave too, I suppose. But you're not off the hook for Dangerously Chloe and all the associated ridiculousness. Just so we're clear about that.

I'm not an especially attentive follower of the comic book industry, but do recall reading that several issues from the Big 2 had come into existence after Mà3's debut and ended well before now; so, point being, this really is the little webcomic that could!

I didn't know Dave was a writer for that Dangerously Crappy spin-off... I remember seeing something that was giving him kudos for a joke in Mà3, and the joke was one that I found meh at best and awful at worst, so it does make more sense now. Unless it is a different Dave in which case the similarly lacklustre writing was just a coincidence.

Double post merged. The DAMNed

[Opus the Poet]

Is that the gauge, or her mind exploding?

[suranae]

Both.

[TheFoolishOne]

Congratulations on 10 <3

[jish55]

1) Congrats on the 10 years, I don't remember when I started reading, but I know the first comics I read from you were the old school Eerie Cuties before the artist changed.

2) I'm so happy that Gary and Zii aren't moving towards a relationship and instead are just remaining friends, it seems more natural with these two who didn't really show romantic compatibility.

[worldshaking00]

Grats on 10 years creative team, in addition to the other reasons that date has significance to your Giz.

Isn't the normal explosion "Ka-Boom", not "Ba-Koom"? I guess it depends on the explosives (Acme, anyone?) Either way, haha.

Yes, Giz's facial expressions are lovely. Time and experience really have done wonders in that area for Giz's artwork.

I am also glad to see that Zii is coming clean on her envy of Gary's transition into being a sexual being. She never truly apologized for it - still hasn't really - but I guess in this tender moment Gary doesn't resent her for it... enough to give up his 'secret technique' to her. He doesn't really seem to mind sharing it though, as it has given him just about as much heart (and jaw-) ache as it has opened up new sexual avenues for him. There is a small sense of completing the circle too, which I find enjoyable.

Now the set-up for the joke, on how Gary will teach her. Remember, he was taught it as a kissing technique. Is Gary going to pucker up at the same moment she drops trou? A Zii SGR-face seems in the works, but will there also be a Gary SGR-face lol.

[Lokitsu]

I don't get it. Is Gary that naive or is he justifying "teaching the swirly" as an excuse to sleep with Zii? He just finished explaining how he wants a committed relationship rather than casual flings and he even mentions that Zii is with Didi in this strip. Even if he only teaches zii thru kissing, it's still sex. This feels like he just spun 180 degrees.

[SailorDh]

Zii "I didn't see you as a sexual being."

Translation: You're a loser geek who is nowhere near qualified for me to be seen with let alone bang.

I hope he broke her.

[Quinlan1973]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi1GVeIzo4Q


TAKE COVER!!!!!!!

[otaku247]

Happy 10th to you and the team!

It's nice to see all the character development going on and the art style too, seeing Gary in strip #1 in the twitter feed and comparing him to the one in #1441, you've done a real good job showing his maturing over the years from stereotypical loser-geek to a more Clark Kent-esque one (especially in the first panel). Same goes for Zii too she's come along just as far!

[Spidrift]

Seconding the congratulations on the tenth anniversary, of course. And, I guess, thanks for holding your nerve and making the big anniversary strip a matter of delicate facial expressions rather than anything flashy and pointless just because of the date.

It isn't quite clear whether the tank is overloaded because Gary's swirly technique is "legendary" enough that Zii is thrilled at the prospect of receiving it, or if she is finding her libido break limits because she is simply excited at the prospect of mastering such a legendary move.

I think that this is a slightly complicated matter of multiple interacting forces. Zii's feelings for Gary involve lust (and just as importantly her attempts to deny it), friendship (which she tries to treat lightly) and curiosity and jealousy about the damn swirly (which she just finds annoying). (Love, lust, and vanity are something of a classical triad, I believe.) She wants to think that those three are often in conflict; she couldn't goink him or investigate the swirly without imperiling the friendship, investigating the swirly would make denying the lust much harder, and so on. But now, she's finding all three pulling in the same direction. Gary's speech about friendship actually reawoke her libido, which was doubtless quite enough to make her consider ripping his pants off; now, he's even offering to assuage the curiosity and resolve the jealousy...

So long as her emotions and desires were pulling in different directions, she could preserve an unstable equilibrium of sorts; now, everything -- raw lust, sincere friendship, intellectual curiosity -- is pulling in the same direction. As Richard Thompson says,, what can she do but fall?

Isn't the normal explosion "Ka-Boom", not "Ba-Koom"? I guess it depends on the explosives (Acme, anyone?) Either way, haha.

I think that Zii is currently so confused that she can't even get her explosions right...

Now the set-up for the joke, on how Gary will teach her. Remember, he was taught it as a kissing technique. Is Gary going to pucker up at the same moment she drops trou?

Good point. There may well, in Gary's mind, be a natural (and indeed obvious) way for him to do this thing while neither rendering Zii unfaithful to DiDi nor forcing himself into yet more meaningless sex. Of course, Zii doesn't have to know that. It'd be careless of him not to make the idea clear straight away, but hey, comedy.

It could also lead to an ironic effect if DiDi walked in on these two osculating and threw a wobbly, while they protested that no, it was just friends demonstrating something to friends... Alternatively, Gary teaches Zii the trick by kissing, Zii uses it to reduce DiDi to jelly -- and then, with her head between the thighs of a grateful goddess, Zii realises that she'd rather be doing this sort of thing with Gary...

On the other hand, hey, maybe everyone is just heading for a pants-off situation; with the DiDi-Zii relationship declared open and all, Gary can demonstrate the desired final effect with a clear conscience.

I don't get it. Is Gary that naive or is he justifying "teaching the swirly" as an excuse to sleep with Zii? He just finished explaining how he wants a committed relationship rather than casual flings and he even mentions that Zii is with Didi in this strip. Even if he only teaches zii thru kissing, it's still sex. This feels like he just spun 180 degrees.

Dude, "kissing" isn't "sex" in most people's vocabularies. It just isn't. Many a virtuous maiden in the most chaste of romances shared a good snog or two with her beloved well before heading up the aisle while wearing white.

And even if Gary is implying that he could get into condition pants-off with Zii, it doesn't invalidate his previous remarks. He doesn't find loveless lust-based sex wrong; he just wants more from a relationship. He doesn't feel guilty about all the mindless bonking, just unsatisfied. One or two more loveless bangs, as a favour for a good friend, hardly makes much difference if he hasn't found a committed love yet.

[Dragon Paladin]

Zii "I didn't see you as a sexual being."

Translation: You're a loser geek who is nowhere near qualified for me to be seen with let alone bang.

I hope he broke her.

That's kind of a stretch. She outright said that she saw him as a brother in one strip. Just because she didn't see him as sexual doesn't mean she thought he was a loser. It just means she wasn't attracted to him at the time.

[JoybuzzerX]

I don't get it. Is Gary that naive or is he justifying "teaching the swirly" as an excuse to sleep with Zii? He just finished explaining how he wants a committed relationship rather than casual flings and he even mentions that Zii is with Didi in this strip. Even if he only teaches zii thru kissing, it's still sex. This feels like he just spun 180 degrees.

You forget, that Gary learned the swirly through kissing. He doesn't need to sleep with her, to teach it to her. Infact, if all it was, was sleeping with her, to teach it to her, all the women he taught it to would know how to do it (they haven't seemed to show they have).