Website Review: HomestarRunner.Com: Come on Fhqwhgads Taking Puntage To a Whole New Super Awesome Level By Fred Choi Staff Writer Recently I discovered that there are still people at MIT who have never seen a Homestar Runner cartoon. In order to repair this tremendous travesty, I offer up an essential guide to Homestar Runner, mostly for newbies, although old fans will find some helpful information as well. Homestar Who? How to describe Homestar Runner? He is the everyman, yet also the Messiah; the humble, yet post-postmodern zeitgeist of the 21st century; the Stephen Dedalus of online Flash animation. In other words, you should get your first taste of the eminently lovable Homestar Runner in all his armless, red shirt with white star, propellor hat beanie, goofy glory by pointing your browser of choice (Opera is highly recommended) to the eponymous . Be sure to click on "watch intro" to see Homestar in his masterful, sprinting, Lite Brites, theme song splendor. Characters If it's your first time, your best bet is to start off clicking on the helpfully labelled "first time here?" button located near the top right corner of the main index. For a quick preview of the characters, from there you could click on the "Characters" section, but instead it's recommended you hop on over to the "Toons" section. In the Toons' Holiday section you'll find the annual Halloween toons and the first one, entitled "Homestarloween Party", is a great introduction to the wacky denizens of the Homestar universe. Undoubtedly the most popular of all the characters is Strong Bad, an indisputable badass who, like Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes, has a rather endearingly self-centered outlook and a penchant for insulting others. The "Strong Bad Emails" feature gets thousands of hits every week for good reason. I go to MIT and have a genius IQ, why would I want to watch this inanity? It's hard to pinpoint what exactly is so addictive about the HomestarRunner site. The characters, each with a memorable look (several without visible arms) and personality, are a huge draw, and their flaws only make them more personable. Their misadventures often seem arbitrary (as in the mystery of "Where have all the parsnips gone?" in the toon, "Parsnips A-Plenty"), yet somehow they're also cliffhangers. The brains behind the endeavour, "the Brothers Chaps", have created a complex but colorful and immediately eye-catching universe in which they incorporate clever and/or obscure and/or nostalgic references, humor of many types including some fantastic parody, "Easter eggs" (see the fan site "Strong Bad Email Secrets" (http://tinyurl.com/3eoul)) and games for the nerds out there, and superhumanly catchy songs, and they exploit every feature of Flash to the fullest to create top-notch animation. In short, it's pretty much the most consistent, high-quality animation on the Web right now, with updates every Monday. Websurfers world-wide seem to agree. The group makes enough from sales on their online store to make HomestarRunner their full-time job. Be sure to be on the lookout for the HomestarRunner DVD in their online store, due sometime in 2004. Overwhelmed by the sheer size of the Homestar universe? Below is a rundown of the main character and a quick list of highlights. Happy Punting! Glossary Bubs: Runs a concession stand. Check out his dancing game in the Games section. Coach Zee: Has a little trouble pronouncing words. Homestar: Sexy, but a bit dim. Dating Marzipan, although he finds her to be rather overbearing. King of Town: Wants to be hip, but mostly just annoys the others. Marzipan: Hippie. The only female in the cast. Pom-Pom: Speaks a foreign language. Bounces around. Poopsmith: Shovels excrement. Strong Bad: Badass. Be sure to check out his weekly feature where he responds to real emails fans have sent him (currently on #99 this week). Uses a Compy 386. Strong Mad: Big and strong. Looks out for The Cheat. Strong Sad: Sensitive, artistic, and picked on by his brother Strong Bad and thus chronically depressed. Likes arts and crafts. Check out his blog at . The Cheat: Always referred to as "The Cheat". Makes animations sometimes. Has a gold tooth. (See Fhqwhgads below.) Highlights Eh! Steve: A character from "Sweet Cuppin' Cakes", a kah-razy cartoon that Strong Bad designed. (See Strong Bad's email entitled "Cartoon".) Marzipan's Answering Machine: A series of messages left by the other characters. Listed under the Toons' Features Section. Fhqwhgads: The name Strong Bad gave to the "I Love You" virus, as his old computer translated the virus as a text file. Was subsequently turned into an unbelievably catchy song by Strong Bad with a music video by The Cheat. Stinko Man: A anime-styled version of Strong Bad with blue hair from the year 20x6 (pronounced "Twenty Exty-Six", in reference to the NES game Metroid). (See Strong Bad's email entitled "Japanese Cartoon".) Teen Girl Squad: A comic drawn by Strong Bad, currently on its fourth issue. Features the characters "Cheerleader", "So and so", "Whats her face" [sic], and "The Ugly One". Their main goal is to look, "So good!" and attract boys. Listed under the Toons' Features Section. The Homestar Runner: The original name for Homestar. The children's book that spawned HomestarRunner.Com can be read in the Museum section (click on the HR logo in the main index). Trogdor, the Burninator: A drawing of a dragon by Strong Bad. (See Strong Bad's email entitled "Dragon".) Has a song with a music video as well as a video game.