Dorko Society (webcomic)
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| The Dorko Society | |
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| Author(s) | Peter Spada |
| Website | http://members.tripod.com/spadapet/ |
| Update schedule | Running |
| Launch date | 1998 |
| Genre | Humor |
The Dorko Society is a webcomic started by computer programmer Peter Spada while a college student in MSU, although the character was actually created by him much earlier. Dorko was created around 1988 (or early '89) and has been evolving into a much different comic ever since. The first Dorko comics generally left the reader wondering if there was actually a joke hidden somewhere. They were basically a testing ground for the author to develop storyline skills. Now the comics try to have many different types of jokes for people with different senses of humor. Many storylines supposedly come directly from a current event story. Mr. Spada says: "I've found that watching the news on television is a good source of storylines because they have a knack for telling stupid stories anyway about stuff that almost nobody should care about." Many stories also came to him while daydreaming during economics class.
The comic centers on the characters of Dorko Thudum (who is never actually called that in the comics, just "Dorko") and his pet Jerko. Jerko is an evolved chimpanzee who has come to resemble a human and spends most of his time either trying to dispatch Dorko into the afterlife or trying to take over the comic as main character.
The hand-drawn black & white art of Dorko is far removed from the style of most webcomics. Peter Spada does all the writing and artwork himself, coming up with the stories as he draws the comics. Nothing is pre-scripted, everything is spontaneous.
"I'm trying to perfect bad artwork while making these comics. This way I don't have to spend hours drawing simple things like a human body. People will accept that Dorko comics look raw, although a nice type of rawness with a distinct style." - Peter Spada
No topic is too taboo for Dorko. The comic has a wide variety of recurring dark themes, such as death in all its forms, cannibalism, brain surgery, coprophagy,self-mutilation, mad science, time travel, UFO abductions (Dorko's mother is a perpetual abductee), the grandfather paradox, dreams, capitalism, suicide, religion, get-rich-quick schemes, guns in school, fratricide, abortion, mental retardation, illnesses and much more, played for laughs. In contrast to all this, sex is never a theme in Dorko comics and there is no swearing.
The rate of new comics has slowed down dramatically since the author graduated from college, but occasionally there are new strips on the site.
[edit] External links
- Dorko Society Home Page
