Escape From Abject Reality is a Singaporean webcomic by Punch-Holer
, and it is a pretty dark spin on Object Shows. The first set of characters for the series (Snake Oil, Silica Gel, Squiggly, Z, Wet Wipes, and Jeans) were shown off on her Tumblr blog on August 17th, 2017, but she eventually drew the whole cast and showed it off three days later on the same blog. She eventually released the first pages of the comic on August 24th, 2017 on both Tumblr and DeviantArt.
You can easily tell what the plot is by just the title alone. Twelve Animate Inanimate Objects are forced into competing in a game show hosted by Snake Oil, which - simply put - constantly puts them under torture. With the contestants split into three groupsnote , they must find a way to escape and foil their host's plans. As you may expect, however, it won't be easy.
There is an official comic dub, with the first part of chapter one released on June 23rd, 2019.
You can read the webcomic here.
This dark and dramatic webcomic provides examples of...
- A Dog Named "Dog": Everyone is named after the objects they're based on. Snake's a rather unique example, though, as he's named after the modern-culture term 'snake oil', which refers to any concoction that's worthless sold off as medicine, hence why he's a medicine bottle with a fluid inside him.
- A Lizard Named "Liz": The unnecessary "-y" at the end of some characters' names has struck again. This comic has Badgey, Pinky, and Squiggly.
- Animate Inanimate Object: It's an object show-based comic, what could you possibly expect?
- Anyone Can Die: Unlike the other object shows, deaths are permanent this time around, so once someone dies, they're dead forever.
- Armless Biped: Clove, Jeans, Styrofoam, and Wet Wipes are this.
- Audience Participation: The comic does this on occasion, with readers commenting on what the character(s) involved should do. Normally the readers can choose between two options.
- Darker and Edgier: It's a dark twist to the normal object show format...and how! You have an evil host character forcing his contestants to compete in his show against their will, and plenty of dangerous challenges. And people who die are dead forever?
- George Lucas Altered Version: Just about every page of chapter one was slightly altered, with pages including Silica Gel having the text on his design be removed. Even the cover of the chapter wasn't safe from the alteration of Silica's design.
- The Maze: The Red Team goes through a labyrinth in the second half of the first chapter.
- Shout-Out: If you haven't figured out what they are by now, Squiggly and Z are based on Tetris blocks.
