Head Trip

I've never been very good at keeping up with webcomics. Even the popular ones like Ctrl+Alt+Del and xkcd somehow slip from my regular web-browsing rounds after a week or so. Sure, I come back to them, now and then (usually when sent a link from a friend) but there's only one webcomic out there that has fully captivated me. As of right now, I am fully up-to-date and in love with four years' worth of Amanda "Shinga" Bussel's Head Trip.

Maybe it's the hilarious moments (these "moments" make up a good 75% of the series, mind you) of Mal's irrational yet somehow relatable rage that makes me love it so much. Maybe it's the poignant nerd humor--or even better, the poignant, feminine nerd humor. Whatever it may be, Head Trip is most certainly the webcomic for me.

Started back in March of 2006, Head Trip has come a long way while still maintaining its brash, borderline-offensive-at-times charm (Shinga, herself, makes a number of allusions to how evil her writing is). The comic mostly follows the main character, Malory (presumably a sort of iconic representation of the author), through all of her rants, raves, acts of violence, and nerdgasms. Aside from Mal, there's her sisters, Kat and Lilian, their friends and family, the "devil guy", and so on, all used frequently by Shinga to make some sort of social or personal commentary. From time to time, the comic strays from Mal's storyline, usually with an addition of "Emokid and Chemokid" (see what I mean by "brash"? It's delightful, really).

Full of a most spectacular and bedazzling array of geeky references (TV shows, video games, books, anime, D&D...), Head Trip is the perfect webcomic for any nerd. Especially the girls--not that it's overwhelmingly feminine, just more so than any of the other geek-tastic webcomics out there that us girls have access to. Females represent, yo! Head Trip is probably most known for its recurring stabs at the Twilight Series and Stephanie Meyer (that's how I got into it--my dear friend and fellow Twilight-hater linked it to me, once upon a time). Don't worry, though. Shinga very amusingly rips apart lots of other stuff, too.

Make no mistake, though...Head Trip is definitely enhanced with the occasional "d'aaaaw" moments throughout the series, all of which are executed with the same care and precision as all of the funny stuff. All in all, readers will most likely find themselves enjoying the series in its entirety immensely. If you don't like it, it's probably because you're not one of the cool kids. In which case, GTFO!

No, but seriously. If you're in touch with the passionate nerd inside each and every one of us (including you--YES, you), Head Trip has something for just about everyone, whether it's references to Firefly or LOST, or making fun of horrific cosplayers and fanboys...and best of all, Shinga's got love for BSG coming out the wazoo. That's good enough for me. Well, what are you waiting for? Go check this stuff out! Do it now!




Head Trip
Shinga's deviantART