Bob and George

Bob and George
Bob and George strip from December 12 2001.
Author(s)	David Anez
Website	http://www.bobandgeorge.com/
Current status / schedule	Ended
Launch date	April 1 2000[1]
End Date	July 28 2007
Genre(s)	Comedy, Sprite comic

Bob and George was a sprite-based webcomic which parodies the fictional universe of Mega Man. It is written by David Anez, a physics instructor who lives in the American Midwest.^[2] The comic first appeared on April 1 2000 and ran until July 28 2007. It was updated daily with very few missed comics. There have only been approximately 29 days without a comic. Initially conceived as a hand-drawn comic, Bob and George became a sprite comic first as filler, and then permanently after two failed attempts at the hand-drawn format. Most Bob and George strips are still images. The initial strips were mostly done in GIF format (occasionally using JPEG for more graphic-intensive comics) before converting to PNG in May 2004. In addition, occasional comics are animated using either animated GIFs or Macromedia Flash. Some of the Flash comics have the characters speaking, voiced by Anez and others (often forum members). Animated comics are generally used for the annual week-long anniversary parties (usually culminating in a brief flash comic that recaps the events of the past year in a matter of seconds), for especially climactic scenes, and for the Cataclysm videos. The comic's plot is mostly made up of story arcs of varying lengths. Amongst past story arcs there have been retellings of various Mega Man games which often play out quite differently than the originals, as well as battles against powerful foes. In addition, many of the story arcs involve either time travel or dimensional travel.

History

An early hand-drawn comic from June 7, 2000 [1]

Bob and George was originally planned to be a hand-drawn webcomic about the college adventures of two brothers named Bob and George. Slated to start on April 1 2000, the plan fell through because Anez didn't have a scanner with which to scan his drawings. He instead released a sequence of filler comics using Mega Man sprites, which he intended to be a temporary measure until he gained access to a scanner, at which point he would implement his initial plan involving the hand drawn comics. He eventually purchased a scanner, and on June 1 he released the hand-drawn comic. Anez has stated that he hated the hand-drawn comic,^[3] and returned to making the sprite comic with Mega Man characters on June 11. The sprite comic continued for several months, until Anez took time off from the comic on September 17 to practice drawing. On October 1, he restarted the hand-drawn comic. Once again, production of the hand-drawn comic didn't last long, and on October 12 he went back to producing the sprite-based comic, which was used until the comic's end. (However, in the storyline "All Good Things" the hand-drawn format is used to represent George's home dimension, though this time drawn by Liss, Dave's wife. Dave stated the reason for this is he realized that he still couldn't draw, and wasn't going to get any better.^[3]) However, this meant that the comic strip was titled "Bob and George", but didn't contain any characters named "Bob" or "George". This was fixed with the introcuction of sprite versions of the two characters into the comic. Bob is depicted as a gray Proto Man recolor while George is a Mega Man recolor with blond hair and no helmet. David planned to end the comic by April 1, 2007, which is the end of the seventh year of the comic's run. However, the story has run on and the comic ended on his birthday, July 28th, 2007.

Fan Community

Bob and George has an active fan community. As of March 2007, the site's forums have over 10,100 registered users and over 500,000 articles posted. In many ways, the forums have grown to be almost completely disconnected from the main comic, as the community has flourished on its own. In an informal survey conducted of the Bob and George forum members, 82% of survey respondents claimed to read Bob and George on a regular basis, with the remaining 18% either reading it occasionally or not at all. ^[4] In addition to the main comic, the Bob and George site hosts a number of comics created by fans of the comic. These comics, which were selected by Anez for inclusion on the site, are known as "fancomics". Fancomics that have been determined by Dave to be of sufficient proven substance are referred to as "subcomics", and are linked to in their own area in the site. Almost all of the fancomics are sprite based. Many fancomics started out on the forums, and forum users often lend sprites to fancomic authors.

Subcomics

Authors are referred to as their website username.

The Subcomics page, as of April 2006.

As of August 2007, Bob and George hosts the following titles as subcomics:

• The Karnak Hates Everything Show by Karnak.
• Metroid: Third Derivative by Reynard.
• MS Paint Masterpieces by DisgruntledFerret
• Universal Voyage by Nameless Wonder

Old Subcomics

A separate section of the subcomics page lists comics no longer featured as major subcomics, in most cases because the authors ceased to continue producing the comics. The comics are as following:

• Dysfunction by kittykaboom
• Megami's Art Pages by Megami
• Randomness by iX
• Super Ho by Liss. Note: Super Ho makes a cameo appearance in the final story line.
• Taco: The Comic by Holly-Beth (aka Chick Bot). Chick bot makes an extended appearance for the battle and aftermath against Helmut.
• Jailhouse Blues by Ramnesis Jazz and Ramnesis make cameo appearances in the Mega Man 6 storyline.
• Oddball Fancomics by Rick O'Shay/RickX. -- Rick, a friend of Dave's, is one of the few subcomic authors to make extended canon appearances in the main comic.
• Misadventures by Plague. Plague's comic is referenced in the main comic's epilogue about Ran.

Some previous subcomics are not listed on the site, including:

• Warped Reality by Deccus
• Author Wars by Deccus
• Project: Suck by Travis Faust
• OCWTSIFT by slashman
• Suraida-chan's Art Pages by Suraida-Chan
• Kefka's Comic by Kefka

Dave's Subcomics

Subcomics authored by Dave Anez are also listed in the same category as the "old subcomics". These include:

• The Cataclysm
• Helmeted Author Quips
• Freakadave

Fancomics

As of August 2007, the fancomics hosted on the site are:

• Super and Jazz by Super Llama.
• Sakurai Diaries by Azureman.
• Captain Gamer: OOC by Captain Gamer.
• Resident Evil by SilentBobX.

Ex-Fancomics

As with the subcomics, there have been many former fancomics. Although some have become subcomics in place of a previous subcomic that ended or left the site, a few fancomics simply ceased to be, usually because the author of the comic stopped producing new comics. They can be downloaded at Bob and George Download Section These include:

• The Ninja Bot by Metlord
• Rock & Roll by Beansdooma
• The thing of no sense by ThndrShk2k
• The thing of no sense 2 by ThndrShk2k
• Theta Radiation by Nick
• Chew on This by Lightguy
• High Sea Hijinks by The Cap'n
• Kurobei by DoctorDiablo
• Warcraft Idiocies by JnvReno
• Author Hunters by Myrmadon
• The Legend of Zelda: That One With the Ocarina by Stobbit
• Dogaland Adventure Redux by Dogadon
• Mr. Ganesha by Dogadon
• Megaband by Six
• Crash and Bass" by FatSatan
• Reploid Hunter Iris: Code Megaman X by CardCaptor Schlueter
• Delta Atari by Archmage Devin
• Reality Sucks by 2
• The Real Live Dead by Travis O.
• Evil Inc. by Jjkaybomb
• Laran by DFM
• House of Cards by Jjkaybomb
• Over the Fringe by Travis O.
• Full Fusion Canon by Crimson R.
• Spies Like Us by CardCaptor Schlueter
• Junior by Tom
• Co-Authors by Pete and Mark

Cast

It has been suggested that this section be split into a new article. ()

The first frame of the April 1 2005 anniversary comic, showing many different characters. Note: the robot near Roll in the blue dress and Bass's fins is Techno, from Rick's comic. Liss can be seen standing on Nate.

Main cast

• Mega Man - Debatably the main star of the comic, he is a robot created by Dr. Light. His primary mission is to destroy evil robots and stop Dr. Wily; his secondary mission is to be an idiot.
• Proto Man - Created by Dr. Light, he is the older robotic brother of Mega Man. He is considered a strategic fighter and one of the more mature characters in the comic, though he's often seen joking with the other characters. His only odd character trait is an obsession with weapons. He has a large cache somewhere in Dr. Light's lab and is very partial to his blaster. His obsession rarely comes to the fore-front, but usually with dire consequences when they do.
• The Author - The (nearly) all-powerful being who made the comic. The Author often appears to see how things are going, but tries not to get directly involved in the story. He appears as a blue/purple palette swap of Mega Man without his helmet. See fourth wall. Dave Anez's real wife Liss has her own sprite and makes occasional, non-canonical appearances in the strip.
• Bob - The younger, yet more mature, brother of George, he is technically evil personified. His alter-ego is Napalm, a super-powered being with control over the element of fire. He is very adept at programming, although the story reveals that this is only true when he has a template of sorts to start from, essentially, as he puts it, reprogramming code for optimizing. He is a grey palette swap of Proto Man, with red hair underneath his helmet. Dave Anez has stated that Bob is a prime example of a Mary Sue[2]. A running gag in the series is that his alternate self from another dimension is gay, although in a non-stereotypical fashion.
• George - The "real" star of the series, he is essentially the opposite of his younger brother, Bob. At least half of the story arcs don't revolve around him though, as they will tend to revolve around the various Mega Man games or one of the characters, usually Bob, traveling through time or dimensions. His alter-ego is Blitz, a super hero with control over the element of lightning. He greatly values ice cream. George is a light blue and grey palette swap of helmet-less Mega Man with blonde hair. He is also affected by an unwritten rule that prevents him from dying due to his name being in the title. So far, there has been only one exception to this rule.^[5] George's personality was originally based on a friend of Dave's, but has strayed significantly from this portrayal. Dave has since transplanted this friend's personality into Chadling. George received a bionic eye after a lab accident with Dr. Light, although strangely it has not factored into any of the subsequent storylines. It was recently revealed that the Shadowy Author who has been manipulating events for the past year or so is actually George in disguise. George is not THE Shadowy Author, however, and it was Bob who exposed George and pointed out the obvious give aways, such as their different eye color and the fact that the real Shadowy Authors text bubbles do not have a track leading to his sprite.

Secondary cast

• Bass - Even less intelligent than Mega Man, Bass is a robot created by Dr. Wily and designed to be superior to Mega Man in everything, including stupidity. It is later revealed a comic-disrupting explosion after the first game's re-enactment is what turned Bass stupid.
• Roll - A robot created by Dr. Light. Initially created as Dr. Light's former housekeeper, she has since demonstrated an enjoyment of combat and violence in general.
• Nate - A yellow demon who once attacked several cast members, Dr. Light turned him into a humanoid-looking Yellow Demon prototype designated N4-T3. This process seems to have rendered him mute, as he now communicates nonverbally with signs, gestures, and the like -- although he has talked when his personality has been transplanted from his body. He has the ability to merge with other robots (see below). Referred to as Nate, as this is what N4-T3 translates to from leet. Next to Proto man, he is one of the more mature characters. Wears large eyeglasses which contain a control jewel. As a safeguard, Nate cries rather than self-destructs/goes berserk if these are broken.
• Dr. Light - An alcoholic scientist who created various members of the robotic cast, including Mega Man, X, Proto Man, and Roll.
• Ran Cossack - A communist robot created by Kalinka, the daughter of Dr. Cossack, who was thought to be the villain of Mega Man 4, but was really being blackmailed by Dr. Wily. Ran is very fragile, and can be destroyed with as little as a poke of a finger. However, upon being destroyed a duplicate body with a copy of his memory is beamed to his previous location. His weapon is the Cossack Buster, an incredibly powerful blaster with similarly powerful recoil. Interestingly enough, his bodies are immune to radiation. He is a well known fan character in the Bob and George community, named after a forum administrator. In fact, the character is so well known that he is often mistaken for a canon Mega Man character.
• Chadling - A purple demon with Wolverine-like claws from the same dimension as Mynd. In fact, Mynd created Chadling as his minion. When not in demon form, he looks like a purple version of Slash Man. Like Nate, Chadling can merge with robots, including humans (see below). He enjoys ice cream as much as George. Fittingly, Chadling's personality is based on a friend of Dave's, of whom was originally George's template. His serial number is C1-14D, model L1N6 (Chadling in leet). Unlike Nate, Chadling cannot retain his form if his control jewel is broken. Otherwise, Chadling is very resilient to damage in both forms.
• Mike - From the same dimension as Mynd and formerly a minion. He was human, but converted to a cyborg after suffering major injuries. Mike is a ninja with colorfully named, but often ineffective, attacks. He is a red/dark grey palette swap of Mega Man with Proto Man's shield. Like Mynd, was inserted into the comic by request from a fan. Called "Ninja Ned" by Roll, much to his dismay. He usually takes on the role of a reporter during breaks in the storylines.
• Alternate Mega Man and Bass - Alternate versions of Mega Man and Bass from an alternate dimension. The two are extremely intelligent and spend much of their time debating scientific issues. A frequent gag is having to deal with future versions of themselves.
• Alternate Bob - A version of Bob from an alternate dimension, he is effeminate, witty, and openly homosexual. The only difference in appearance between him and the primary universe's Bob is that Alternate Bob's scarf is purple. Aside from from Alternate Mega Man and Bass, Alternate Bob is the only recurring Alternate Universe character to appear in the Mega Man universe. He has a long-term relationship with Top Man, one of the other openly gay characters in the series. Alternate Bob takes over Mike's reporter job.
• The Shadowy Author - The author of the Rockman Universe, the Shadowy Author appears to be neither friend nor foe to the cast. He has interfered in the events of the primary universe on several occasions, though his intentions in doing so remained unknown. He is sometimes mistaken for George's Mom. Fittingly, towards the later end of the comic, George took up masquerading as the Shadowy Author to manipulate the events behind the comic, until Bob called him out. It should still be noted that George is not THE Shadowy Author; the comic's final strip revealed that the true Shadowy Author was really The Author the whole time, having blamed himself for the Cataclysm - and working to prevent it.
• Vic - An evil program designed by Bob in order to ensure that Mega Man turns evil every once in a while. The secondary root control of Mega Man, besides Mega Man himself. Looks exactly like Bob, and sells "pure, concentrated, unending evil" in the form of juice at a stand inside Mega Man's head. Mega Man's eyes appear red when Vic is operating Mega Man during the 16-bit comics.
• Mega Man X Continuity Effectively, the far future of the present Mega Man timeline. It's never made clear which part of the X storyline it takes place, but estimated around the X4 timeline (Iris is still alive, and all sprites are 32 bits). For the final storyline, Sigma is in his X5 form, but Double is also present.
  • X - Dr. Light's most advanced robotic creation, X is a super-advanced robot from 100 years in the future who can think for himself. The star of the Mega Man X games. X has taken multiple roles in the comic, being a straight man to Mega Man's antics during the Mega Man 2 parody (effectively subbing-in for Proto Man), a spirit guide for George, the prime villain between the Fifth and Sixth Game parodies, and a hero in his own timeline. Similarly to Mega Man being stupid, the comic hints that X and Zero are gay -- a theme several sub-comics have run with.
  • Zero - X's friend, he is an advanced robot created by Dr. Wily. Upon activation, he went on a rampage that caused the Cataclysm. Was put into a 100-year sleep, and became good sometime after that. Late in the series, through a series of convoluted events, it is revealed that Bob programmed Zero for Dr. Wily. A running gag is that Zero looks like a girl, and very self-conscious about it.
  • Prometheus - After surviving the Cataclysm, Proto Man took on this alias. He tends to reminisce on the past and how much he misses it, and tends to remind X and the others of how he managed to survive the cataclysm. After everything he's been through, he prefers the freakiness from when the author was around to the dark and more serious nature of the X world. Note: this character is not related to the ZX character of the same name.

Minor/Recurring Characters

• Characters from George's (& Bob's) dimension
  • Tom - An employee at McBoogers (George's first job), Tom is annoyingly happy at this fast food restaurant. He is almost a direct caricature of Dave Anez's younger brother. Tom makes a cameo appearance during the comic's last storyline as an employee at an unnamed restaurant.
  • George's (& Bob's) Mom - Her name has never been revealed, and she evidently appears differently to others. She is most commonly seen as George sees her: an amorphous dark entity with glowing red eyes when angry. She is seen as a golden angel/goddess in the final comics. In this finale, it is revealed she is effectively responsible for most of the events in the comic.
  • Ted - Ted is a fellow Super-Hero from George's past, part of a team called Delta Flight. We mostly see him in the time jumping incident where George is flung between the past, present, and future. He is a dark skinned man wearing a white and Carolina blue uniform with a blue visor. His elemental power is cryogenic ice blast. His codename in Delta Flight is "Sub-Zero." He and the rest of the team show up in sprite form for a final confrontation with Bob.
  • Maris - George's girlfriend and apparent sweet heart. She only appears briefly in the comic, but mentioned through out the last part of the storyline. She may or may not be able to control water, as this fact was revealed in an illusion cast by Captain Kinesis. Liss's concept art depicts Maris as being skilled in electronics, but this may not be canon either. Given Liss's Deviant Art handle (Marisole), Maris is probably herself in cameo.
• Support Units - Many of these characters can combine or otherwise assist the main cast.
  • Rush - Mega Man's robot dog, whom provides transportation via jet board. He does have the Rush Coil, but it is often ridiculed. Rush usually speaks in dog language, but can in fact talk normally due to Mega Man modifying him during the Mega Man 3 parody. He's one of the more intelligent characters, certainly more than Mega Man. One of Rush's (and the other pet-based support units) most prominent roles in the story was helping George while he was intangible. Where-in, Rush's more acute hearing was able to communicate with George. Rush is not seen combining with Mega Man as often as Treble combines with Bass, although the sprite of the Rush Booster is recolored for time suits. Exceptions include the Mega Man 5 parody (albeit combined with Alternate Mega Man) and against Ultimate Mynd.
  • Treble - A robot wolf that can merge with Bass. Like Rush, he's much more intelligent than Bass. It is unlikely he can talk normally like Rush.
  • Tango - A robot cat that both Rush and Treble have an inherent/embedded hatred towards. The feeling seems mutual. Despite appearances, Tango is perfectly capable of defending against Treble and Rush, leaving both severely injured.
  • Circus - Dr. Light has this rarely-seen support unit. He forms the robot combat suit that Dr. Light has used against Evil Mega Man and Ultimate Mynd. He was first seen normally during X's take over of the lab. Circus is a re-color of Flame Mammoth.
  • Auto - Often ignored and disliked, Auto plays very little role in the comic. His most prominent appearance is in the Cataclysm movie where he defeats Zero. He evidently copies Dr. Light's appearance down to being fat -- by actually carrying bacon fat inside him.
  • Eddie - Within the comic's continuity, he was invented by Dr. Cossack. Originally, he was built at a size larger than even Gamma, whom Eddie easily squishes during the fifth game's parody. Since Mega Man was also being squished by Gamma at the time, Eddie scares the willies out of Mega Man. Eddie was downsized sometime later.
  • Beat - Beat is largely absent in the series. His alternate counterpart is more notable, having pecked out Alternate George's eyes.
  • Metool-D2 - Initially a simple metool that befriends Alternate Bass and assists him through the assault during the Mega Man 5 parody. At the end of the parody, he leaves his dimension to live with the Alternates (his explanation of how he got there is not translated). He can project a virtually impenetrable shield and also possesses a fire extinguisher. Both were put to good use against the flame-wielding Bob. His name is derived from R2-D2, and like the astromech, only speaks in beeps and whistles. He returns with the Alternates during the final storyline.
• Merged Characters - Demon characters like Nate and Chadling can combine with others to form more powerful characters -- somewhat like Mega Man and Bass merging with their support units. If names aren't mentioned in the comics, they are taken from the comic's title header.
  • Bate - A merger of Bass and Nate created during "The Attack of Mega Man" story arc where Mega Man became evil, designated B4-T3. He is basically a recolored 16-bit Guts Man sprite with Bass' head on it. Referred to as Bate, since this is what B4-T3 translates to from leet. His name became an immediate pun when Bate demanded that Evil Mega Man refer to him as "Master" before he killed him. Evil Mega Man promptly replied with the question "Master Bate?" making the gag obvious.
  • Hate - Briefly Nate inadvertently merged with the Helmeted Author after trying to eat him. They are (explosively) separated by Proto Man.
  • Protean - Proto Man merges with Nate shortly after removing Nate from Helmeted Author. Unlike the previous merges, PR0T34N is a red Napalm Man with Proto Man's head (PR0T34N in leet). Protean returns to deal with Non-Alternate Mynd and Mynd Mk II.
  • Charge - George merges with Chadling against Non-Alternate Mynd during part of the final storyline. This is due to Chadling and George being vaporized together in a previous story. He is a recolor of Neon Tiger. Charge rather easily hacks Non-Alternate Mynd to pieces. Charge would appear again to battle Mynd in the final storyline. Mynd quickly removes George, only to merge with Chadling himself, (see Mynd Mk II, below).
  • Mega-Hulk - During the events representing the Fifth Mega Man game, Mega man is overwhelmed by an army of robot masters, transforming in his rage. The reason for this seems to stem from self-replicating nano-bots injected in him by Alternate Mega Man. This form is one of the few appearances of 8-bit demons (recolored green with Mega Man's head). When faced with merged robot masters, the Mega-Hulk increased in size to compensate. Finally, the Mega-Hulk exploded after accidentally eating several of Ran's Cossack busters, destroying the horde. This explosion seemed to purge the nano-bots from Mega Man's body, although Mega-Hulk(s) would return for the final storyline's battle with Bob.
  • Super-Sized Robot Masters - To combat the Mega-Hulk (see above), several robot master clones combine to form larger versions of themselves. The first to do this is Guts Man, followed by Crash Man, Gemini Man, Air Man. Elec Man, and Shadow Man -- although others may have done so as well. Later, these merged into a giant version of Bob. It is not seen what happens to the giant Bob, but is presumably destroyed by Ran cannons or the Mega Hulk exploding.
  • Mynd MkII - Mynd combines with Chadling, gaining the latter's claws. This form is a recolor of Sigma from Mega Man X2. His battle with Protean results in another form (see below).
  • Ultimate Mynd - Mynd MkII jumps into a reforming Protean and merges yet again to a recolor of Sigma from Mega Man X3. He is challenged by Dr Light in a robot suit (same sprite base). Dr. Light finally defeats Mynd by self-destructing his suit (all survive). Due to George's time jumping in the storyline, the battle is not shown.
• Notable Robot Masters
  • Quick Man - Arguably the first of the Robot Masters to feature a quirky personality, Quick Man is extremely hyperactive. He values crack cocaine in a Gollum-like way, referring to it as his precious.
  • Top Man - One of the openly gay characters in the series. He fittingly develops a relationship with Alternate Bob. He was particularly hostile towards a homophobic Mega Man.
  • Shadow Man - A ninja master that spouts seemingly cryptic, but otherwise non-nonsensical metaphoric phrases. This habit gets more bizarre as the series progresses. He makes fairly random appearances later in the series.
  • Toad Man - Depressed and asthmatic, his running gag is often being forgotten or left out. He is one of the more intelligent Robot Masters.
  • Handless Robot Masters - Most notably Spark Man and Drill Man, although Crash Man has been seen lamenting as well. These characters not only lack hands or manipulators of any kind, but possess lethal appendages in their place. This serves a source of mass frustration and pain (literally). These characters invariably end up killing themselves.
  • Suggestive Masters - These characters either have suggestive names, like Wood Man and Hard Man, or their actions can sound vulgar (Air Man and Dust Man, both of whom suck and blow).

Villains

• Dr. Wily - An evil scientist plotting the downfall of Mega Man and Dr. Light and the primary villain of the game parodies. From game parodies 3 through 6, Wily uses Gamma during the finale of each respective parody. This may be a reference to the actual games, in which from the Fourth game onward, the last boss has always been Wily in his escape pod. Wily often explains his plans in overheard soliloquy, one of the longest running gags in the series.
• Yellow Demon - The Yellow Demon appears as a virtually unstoppable force against Mega Man and Proto Man in between the first game's re-enactment. He is finally defeated and Dr. Light converts him into Nate.
• Bob - When first introduced, Bob causes havoc by battling Proto Man and repeatedly shooting Mega Man. He is thwarted by Nate's timely introduction, knocking Bob into a portal. Bob has played the part of the villain a few more times, most notably during the Fifth Game and the final storyline.
• Mynd - A Sigma-lookalike from another dimension and the first to do serious damage to the cast. Mynd's main weapon is his beam saber and advocates strictly close-range combat. His adept skill with his saber and his shielding give him nearly impenetrable defenses (godmoder). Naturally, Mynd is extremely arrogant and unimpressed by virtually all attack against him. The only people he sees as worthy opponents are Bob and himself (see Non-Alternate Mynd). He can exert control over Chadling in non-demon form. Dave put him in by request from a fan's sprite edit [3].
• Mega Man - Mega Man has played the villain on a few occasions, usually turned evil through foreign programing. It has been revealed that Bob has programed an evil personality, known as Vic, in Mega Man.
• Helmeted Author - Also known as "Helmut" and Fistandantilus. An Author from another dimension who wears a helmet which restrains his powers. Without the helmet, he has dark gray Sephiroth-style hair, and also sports a grey color scheme. He is the titular character of Helmeted Author Quips, a subcomic which is displayed in the space beneath the main comic on the website.
• Evil Overlord Mike/Ninja Ned and Non-Alternate Mynd - The versions of Mike and Mynd from the same dimension as most of the main cast. Evil Overlord Mike is a villainous version of Mike with an army of ninjas, and Non-Alternate Mynd is his minion. Unlike Mike, he is known as Edward (Ned) and extremely confident and a skilled martial artist, able to give Bob a severe beating. He is also ruthless, killing minions who fail by staking their severed heads. Aside from the rank difference, NA-Mynd has a tendency to wield 2 beam sabers, either one in each hand, or joined as a staff. He's also a smidgen more polite, if in sardonic way. NA-Mynd and Ned appear for final storyline, allying themselves with the side of good. There apparently was a Non-Alternate Chadling, but he was killed by NA-Mynd before the events depicted in the story.
• X - The most advanced robotic creation of Dr. Light. At one point, he assimilated everyone in the comic because he wanted friends. He was subsequently reprogrammed and deactivated. Was reactivated 100 years later, preceding the events of the Mega Man X video game.
• Axis of Bob - For the final storyline, Bob (secretly merged with Helmut) enlists the help of three similar-looking villains to lead an army of ninjas in three distinct time periods: Past (George's Universe -- before crossing to the MM universe), Present (Mega Man 16-bit), and Future (Mega Man X 32-bit). Dr. Wily is technically recruited, but indirectly (past: when he had kidnapped the author after the Mega Man 1 re-enactment; present: Bob uses his robot maker to make an army; future: Wily represents the Sigma virus)
  • Captain Kinesis The antagonist for George's universe. He is largely an evil parody of Captain Picard, a reference to the story's plot, which is from the last episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. He is telekinetic, with some telepathic abilities, referencing Professor Xavier from X-men, another character played by Patrick Stewart. His armor resembles Sigma's, fitting the theme that a Sigma-like character is the antagonist in each of the 3 timelines.
  • Mynd - Mynd returns, leading Non-Alternate Mike's ninja army. Interestingly, Mynd evidently switches sides once Bob makes his final assault (after meeting his non-alternate self.
  • Sigma - Previously absent from the comic since very little of the X timeline is touched on, Sigma finally makes his appearance in the last storyline. The primary antagonist for the X timeline to battle time-jumping George, Sigma is the first of the 3 to be defeated.

Locations in the comic

• The Mega Man universe - The comic's main setting is in a highly-parodied version of the Mega Man universe. There are 3 distinct timelines in this universe, denoted by the sprite quality: Past (Pre-Mega Man 7 (8-bit), Present (~Mega Man 7)(16-bit), and Future (~Mega Man X4(32-bit). Certain areas such as inside Mega Man's head and X's mind also use certain sprite qualities. Notable locations include:
  • Dr. Light's lab - The lab of Dr. Light, and home of most of the comic's heroes. The lab is complete with an area for the creation of new robots, as well as a holographic training simulator in which members of the cast hone their fighting skills.
  • Dr. Wily's fortress - The fortress was home to both Dr. Wily and Bass before being destroyed later in the comic. Dr. Wily has had a different fortress in each of the Mega Man games which inevitably end up being destroyed by the end of the game.
  • Dr. Cossack's castle - Located in Russia, the castle is home to Dr. Cossack, his daughter Kalinka, and Ran.
• The Alternate Mega Man universe - A parallel dimension, home to alternate versions of the cast who have dramatically different personalities than those of the standard universe. Examples include extremely intelligent versions of Mega Man and Bass, a homosexual Bob, and a homicidally violent George.
• George's (& Bob's) Universe aka the Hand-Drawn Universe or sometimes referred to as the "The Real World," by George. Despite this, there are meta-humans (Bob & George) and later revealed that George was part of a super hero team called Delta Flight. As its name implies, this is where George and Bob come from, and is completely hand-drawn (usually by Dave, the final storyline by Liss). Almost all events depicted are in the past, before or at least concurrent with the Mega Man 1 re-enactment. The events of the sub-comic Super Ho appear to take place in the same universe, given that title character's cameo.
• Mynd's universe - Another universe, this is the home dimension of Mynd, and his henchmen Mike and Chadling.
• The Rockman Universe - A universe controlled by the Shadowy Author, this universe is based on the universe of the Japanese Rockman games. A more serious universe in which Rock is competent, Roll is subservient, and Forte and Dr. Wily are actually evil. This universe has recently suffered its Cataclysm due to actions of future versions of the Mega Man and Bass from the Alternate Mega Man Universe.
• The White Space - An all white dimension which is revealed to be a demiplane which interacts with all comic universes. Helmut was banished to here when trying to destroy the comic.
• Mega Man's Mind - This is where Vic and Mega Man's actual Mind live. The most notable items are a TV with a giant keyboard, and a lemonade stand, which sells glasses of pure, concentrated, unending evil. A router and its humorously large button are also present. The TV is usually connected to Mega Man's eyes (which are sometimes also seen), but not always the case. Other parts of Mega Man's body can be accessed from here, such as his Mega-Buster, as seen in the 6th Mega Man Game storyline. This area is always depicted in 8-bit graphics, regardless of the time period.
• X's Mind - Seen when X assimilated George's mind. It is the only place that uses graphics from the Battle Network series.

Terminology

• Cataclysm - The event in the Bob and George future where Zero kills most of the Mega Man characters.
• Helmeted Author Quips - Helmeted Author Quips are random pictures or animations that depict the Helmeted Author doing something generally unrelated to the Bob and George story. Also refers to or pictures/animations that are displayed below the comic that have nothing to do with the Helmeted Author. On Friday, October 28 2005, it was revealed that Helmeted Author escaped this area to help Bob out in the final storylines.
• Quirky Personalities - The Robot Masters within the Bob and George universe are plagued with personalities that render them extremely stereotypical in relation to their name.
• Plot Hole - The end result of a logical paradox, such as a character being in two places at the exact same time. Believed to cause a catastrophic event of universal reach that would completely obliterate all universes that ever have or ever will exist. However, the Author continually insists that there are none, usually by way of the Jedi mind trick. Apparent plot holes in Bob and George are often resolved through convoluted plot, often involving time travel.

Storyline

It has been suggested that this section be split into a new article. ()

Year 1

The main cast of Mega Man are introduced in supposed place holders until the hand drawn comic. Origins of Proto Man, Dr, Light, Dr. Wily, the first six Robot Masters, and eventually Mega Man are shown in a re-telling of events prior to the first Mega Man game. It should be noted, that unlike the re-imaginings of the games that would follow, the first game is depicted as re-enactments by the games characters, like a play or film. The Author is introduced during failed attempts to tell this prologue. Roll is unofficially introduced before the transition. George, Tom, Napalm, and Blitz (initially named "Spark") are introduced in the hand-drawn comics. Back in the sprite comic, the re-enactment is interrupted by an attack by the Yellow Demon. An extended battle ensues as Proto Man and Mega Man fruitlessly try to defeat it. The Author drops in, and following the introduction of white space, to give the final hint to defeat it. The comic then returns to the re-enactment of the first game. During this, Wily breaks from the storyline, capturing and then apparently kills the author, leading to the second instance of the hand-drawn comics. Bass is unofficially introduced. In the Hand-drawn comics, George's Mom makes her first appearance. The story returns to the sprite comic, where the Author is apparently fine. George, then Bob, are introduced in sprite form (Rush and Treble also make their first appearances at the beginning). Bob fights both Proto Man and Mega Man before attempting to kill his brother. Nate is introduced, who smacks Bob into a portal. Bob is sent to an alternate dimension by the Author, where-in Bob gains the ability to travel to other dimensions via his blaster. A random portal causes Bass to travel back in time to the period of the Mega Man 2 and alters the past. Mega Man is given a special suit to protect him from the ripple effect of the altered timeline. X appears from the future due to a similar suit, where he and Mega Man then travel back in time to fix Bass's mess.

Year 2

The past version of Mega Man is damaged, so the present-day Mega Man fights the 8 Robot Masters and defeats Dr. Wily. The scuffle supposedly gives Wily amnesia, allowing him to become Dr. Light's assistant again. X, Bass, and the both versions of Mega Man return to the present. Bass takes damaged Mega Man to Dr. Wily, who removes Mega Man's stupid programming. Roll's battlesuit is introduced when she joins Proto Man to retrieve damaged Mega Man. Returned to Dr. Light, Mega Man of the past is repaired. Zero from the future makes an appearance. Damaged Mega Man, X, and Zero are returned to their own times. In the future, Prometheus (future Proto Man) is introduced. Meanwhile, Bob ends up traveling to Mynd's dimension. Bob is defeated by Mynd and Mike. Mynd, Chadling, and Mike return with Bob to the Mega Man universe. Mynd attempts to take over the Mega Man universe, but is defeated by the combined powers of Bob and George. Helmut is brought into the canon during this storyline. George awakens from the explosive aftermath to find himself in the past, in the time period of Mega Man 3. In an effort to hide his deceit, Dr. Wily kidnaps George, whom he then blames on the attack by new robot masters. Mega Man begrudgingly goes to defeat the Robot Masters and retrieve power crystals necessary for Gamma, the supposed peace-keeping robot. Meanwhile, Bob wakes up in the future.

Year 3

Bob regains his blaster from Helmut and travels to the time period of Mega Man 3. Wily uses George as a bargaining chip and Bob agrees to take out Mega Man. Mega Man, meanwhile, defeats the rest of the Robot Masters (where-in Ran is introduced as a spirit guide), but burns out after a fight with Doc Robot. Bob's quest results in his destroying the remaining Doc Robots and bringing the crystals to Dr. Wily. After being freed, George overloads and destroys most of Dr. Wily's castle. Dr. Wily activates Gamma, but is thwarted by machinations by Dr. Light. Bob and George return to their own time. The Shadowy Author is introduced about midway during a break in the storyline. Mega Man appears to turn evil, attacking Proto Man and Roll before recruiting Bass to take on Chadling and George, and later attempt to defeat Nate. Mega Man then fights with Dr. Light. Bass, having merged with Nate, becomes more powerful than Mega Man can handle, and is knocked into an open portal. Bob, having retreated prior to Mega Man's attack, ends up in the Rock Man Universe, and kills that universe's Dr. Wily. Ran begins the story of the events of Mega Man 4. Dr. Cossack and his daughter Kalinka are introduced, as are Ran's creation and the Mega Man 4 Robot Masters. Dr. Wily steals Stalin's Brain, evidently the central control of Russia. Kalinka goes with Ran in a bid to re-take the brain, but is left trapped in Wily's castle. In a convoluted response, a hysterical Dr. Cossack sends his Robot Masters to take over the world (supposedly so Dr. Wily doesn't harm Kalinka). At some point in this storyline, Dr. Cossack also supposedly creates Eddie. Back in the present, Mega Man reappears, only to be captured by Proto Man. Despite repeated "questioning," Mega Man denies any memory of his attack.

Year 4

Continuing Ran's story, Mega Man fights the Robot Masters, but is severely injured after defeating most of them. Ran rounds up the remaining robot masters (Dive Man and Toad Man) in a mutinous assault on Dr. Wily. Dive Man and Toad Man die, as Wily re-activates Gamma, only to be crushed by a super-sized version of Eddie. George is sent back in time by Dr. Light, and discovers why he survived the events of Mega Man turning evil. It is revealed that Mega Man had not turned evil, but instead the Helmeted Author had been disguised as him. George heads to a tropical beach to wait for his timeline to catch up. In the present, the Helmeted Author attacks. The Author and Helmeted Author fight, and appear to destroy the comic.

Year 5

It is revealed that the comic was not destroyed. Roll and Mike save the president from Evil Overlord Mike's ninjas. The Future Alternates inadvertently cause the Cataclysm in the Rockman Universe, which later turns out to be an alternate Rockman Universe. Bob wakes up in the standard universe's past just prior to Mega Man 5, and teams up with Dr. Wily to take over the world, whom Bob later betrays. The Present Alternates and the Future Alternates arrive in this time period and team up to stop Bob. Bob upgrades the Robot Masters' files to create an army of Robot Masters. The Past Alternates go after Bob; while the future Alternates, Mega Man, Proto Man, and Ran try to stop the Robot Master army with tactics such as using Ran as a bomb, turning Mega Man into Mega-Hulk, and taking Ran's Cossack Busters. Meanwhile, the Present Alternates stop Bob by dropping an asteroid on him. In the explosive aftermath, Bob is catapulted into the White Space, and Wily, now free, tries using Gamma yet again. Mega Man disposes of Gamma by throwing Ran into it, much to the small robot's fury. In the aftermath, the alternates are returned to their own time and dimension, albeit with their memories wiped. Bob, meanwhile, converts the White Space to an Acapulco-like paradise. Back in the present, Evil Overlord Mike sends Non-Alternate Mynd to attack Dr. Light's lab. He is defeated when George merges with Chadling and hacks NA-Mynd's limbs off. What's left of NA-Mynd is thrown in the dungeon.

Year 6

Dr. Light activates X, who after being rejected by most of the cast, begins assimilating the robotic members of the cast. When X assimilates Mike, X gains the access to humans, due to Mike's cybernetic implants. Thus X effectively assimilates most of the world. George uses his lighting ability to become a free agent inside X's mind, where repeated confrontations ensue. George finally defeats X, freeing those who were assimilated. During the aftermath, Nate and Chadling get stuck in Mega Man's mind, where Vic's presence becomes known. Dr. Wily pulls Bob out of the subspace rift and coerces Bob to program Zero for him. Dr. Wily then sends Bob back in time, where he appears just prior to the events of Mega Man 6. Hearing of his brother's death by Mega Man (controlled by Vic), George travels back in time in an attempt to rescue him. The Mega Man 6 robot tournament begins.

Year 7

The tournament continues, with Bob and George manipulating events behind the scenes so that the timeline remains unchanged. Shortly after the first round of the First Annual Robot Tournament ended, a "Temporal Burp" appeared within the comic, which seems to have been caused by Bob and George's actions in the Mega Man 6 storyline. The Strips at that time were in a distortion wave, with earlier strips unviewable or distorted in some way. Bob steals George's time-suit off of George and programs the evil personality Vic into Mega Man, setting Mega Man up to cause havoc in the tournament. George zaps Bob, causing the time-suit to malfunction and send Bob through time. The evil Mega Man starts to hunt the other robots. Meanwhile, the Author continues to block the distortion wave with difficulty. Dr. Wily, still disguised as Mr. X, sends the remaining tournament robots after Mega Man as a stalling tactic, so he can retreat to his fortress. Mega Man manages to defeat each robot sent after him. Mega Man's real programming apparently is accidentally destroyed, leaving Vic the only personality in Mega Man. Meanwhile, Dr. Wily and the surviving robots made it to his fortress. Dr. Wily activates Gamma in an attempt to defeat Mega Man. who goes out of control and destroys Wily's fortress and defeats Mega Man. However, just as Wily is about to deliver the coup de grace on Mega Man, Ball Man strikes him like a bowling ball and leaves him stunned and disoriented. Dr. Light then arrives and asks what happened, being oblivious to Mega Man's rampage, to which Mega Man claims that everything was Wily's doing, thus resulting in Wily's incarceration and the end the 6th Mega Man game. Afterwards, the comic goes back to the presumable present, with George complaining about being thrown through time from the past to the present to the future. After a few comics, he is sent to the future and talks with Prometheus, where George is 137 years old and basically a demigod. He then is sent back in time to the hand-drawn universe, where he zaps Scrooge McDuck and a new character, Ted, is introduced. It becomes readily apparent that the Shadowy Author is behind George's time travel, in what Dave has said is mostly a parody of the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "All Good Things". George then finds himself jumping between the three time periods, fighting Sigma in the future, Mynd in the present, and new villain Captain Kinesis in the past. During this, George wakes up to find himself in a drawn world much like what Dave imagined originally, where Bob is his friend and he's a college kid. George is eventually able to break free from what is actually an illusion by Captain Kinesis. After returning to normal, George finds himself in the Present, where Mynd reveals Bob's plan: to kill the Author. (This appears to be Dave's Plot Device for the comic's end, which he has talked about since November of 2006.) Bob finally reveals himself and a long battle between him and nearly everyone in the comic ensues. Bob then commences to go Supernova to end it all, but is stopped by the Shadowy Author. Ripping off his mask, Bob reveals the Shadowy Author to be none other than George. At the same time, the Author begins to awaken. It is explained that George is merely an impersonator who has been posing as the Shadowy Author for two years now. Bob goes on to explain how he knew; the real Shadowy Author has red eyes with floating text bubbles, but when George posed as him he had blue eyes and connected text bubbles. George then explains that he had met the real Shadowy Author, who loaned him some of his Author Power to help him stop Bob, which is how he was able to send his past self through time, stop the Supernova, and summon all those alternate universe characters. George threatens to shoot Bob with his blaster, but Bob doubts he would be willing to kill his brother. George does pull the trigger, but the gun doesn't work. Then, the Helmeted Author comes out of Bob and the Author comes out of the tank. They tell them that the Helmeted Author has been possessing Bob for the last few years over a bet to see if George would be willing to kill Bob and the Author won. We find why Bob and George ended up in the Mega Man universe, and ultimately the reason for that last two years of events in the comic was all a plan by Bob and George's mother. She wanted George to become tough and to be willing to kill Bob if necessary and for Bob to know so that he'd be less likely be evil -- so the Author offered use of his universe and so sent them there during the first year of the comic. Bob and George then go home with the knowledge they have largely wasted the last seven years of their lives. In the epilogue, David Anez explains that the Author decided to quit interfering with the storyline, allowing it to follow the plot of the game. He explains that everyone will die in the Cataclysm after Dr. Wily prematurely releases Zero. It is then hinted that, blaming himself for the deaths of the cast, the Author becomes the Shadowy Author, and goes back in time to create the Rockman universe and show his past self the Cataclysm, hoping to prevent it. However, since Zero revealed the events of the cataclysm during the final storyline, Dr. Wily doesn't release Zero, so the cataclysm never happens. To avoid causing a time paradox, they all fake their deaths and move to Acapulco, where they live happily ever after.

Additional Info

• Due to what many users believe is a temporal flux in the comic, the first comics up to April 29, 2000 were being slowly scrambled and then dissipating. The Author was on the strip for the 29th, holding the burp off. It was still being debated on what's causing the burp. But on August 29, 2006, every comic up until October 18, 2000 was wiped. They were also made inaccessible. These comics have since been restored, but only likely due to an error in the archival code, which has misplaced parts of the layout, made various comics disappear, and disabled commentary from the first two years.

See also

• Characters of Bob and George
• Sprite comic
• Mega Man (series)

References

External links

• Bob and George website
• Interview with David Anez
• Bob and George: The Wiki
• Wired News article featuring the strip
• Kernel article featuring the strip.
• A history of the comic's production, as described by a short series of comics from March 2005.