Penny Arcade Recap

If you like gaming, you probably like Penny Arcade. I was the first person to give Penny Arcade the benefit of the doubt. I know that the writers of Penny Arcade do good stuff, like setting up a children's charity. Their webcomic is funny and interesting, which is the reason it is pretty much the only webcomic online that the writers can make a living off.

If you're a big Penny Arcade fan, you probably heard about the controversy surrounding the 'dickwolves' strip, but here's a quick recap:

Penny Arcade posted a strip which seemed to be based on a rape joke. It didn't really resemble the endless and casual rape jokes posted online and yelled by gamers over microphones everyday, but it was a joke partly about rape. There was a backlash surrounding this joke, prompted in a big way by this post on Shakespearessister. The internet went crazy (as it does).


While Melissa McEwan was busy getting abused by militant Penny Arcade fans, the authors responded themselves in a way I can only describe as disgusting and unprofessional - with an 'explanation'.

I shouldn't have to point out the problem with their response here. Whatever you thought of the original comic, even if you thought it was funny and fantastical and not offensive in the least, this strip certainly minimises rape victims. Penny Arcade know how to address their audience: with humour, and who better to use this humour to attack than rape survivors and/or anti-rape activists!

It's possible you read our cartoon and became a rapist as a direct result.

Woah woah woah. When was this theory put into play? I realise the response is meant to be funny, but it makes no sense whatsoever to put this ludicrous statement out as the position of the people who criticised the 'dickwolves' strip. The statement is ludicrous, of course no one reads a comic and then becomes a rapist as a direct result. That makes no sense. It's like if I stated to my legions of fans (haha) that Penny Arcade thought rape was ok, summed up their argument as solely supporting rapists. The reason I don't is that I don't believe building up a straw man and defeating it as a good way of winning an argument, much less responding in a professional manner to criticism about the work you get paid to do.

Penny Arcade should care about alienating their readers, but either they don't believe anyone who doesn't like the 'dickwolves' strip reads them regularly or they just don't give a fuck about us. I mean, personally, I find the comic funny, often due to it's dark comedy, but how on Earth should I feel comfortable about reading it now?

And THEN, Gabe hammers the nail into the coffin by openly making fun of rape victims (those are the people who want trigger warnings. People who have been raped and didn't find it hilarious):

Trigger Warning for attempts to coerce laughter through foul language, Dungeons, Dice rolling, contempt for Hydra’s bodily autonomy,Dragons

My sides are aching...

It's cool tho, because you can buy a shirt to let everyone know how much you love Penny Arcade, especially the way they make fun of people with PTSD.

Make no mistake, these people think rape is a 'women's issue'. The gaming community at the moment LACKS people interested in a 'women's issue'. Even their professional artists and comics are in on this shit. We need to talk about it.