Elly and the reason she never says "It could always be worse."
When exactly did we stop pursuing happiness and start avoiding unhappiness?.
— Sam
Probably the minute we entered our early 20s.
—John
The Word Weary (sometimes called 'The Word Weary Comic') is a Stick Figure Comic webcomic about disappointment, loneliness and love centered around John Kossler, an Author Avatar, and his friends.The author, John Kossler, makes light of his depression and his position as the omega male in his group of friends. When the comic begins, the audience is introduced to Yorick Kingsley, a performance artist who is somewhat mean to John, Jason Kirkwood, a hard drinking misogynist philosopher and the only member of the group who was in a relationship when the comic started, and Sam Kirkwood, Jason's younger brother and the voice of reason in the group. Soon the characters meet Harry the Hipster and his girlfriend, Elly, an independent Fiery Redhead, to whom John finds himself instantly attracted. Later introduced are Lillith, a girl who plays Dungeons and Dragons and thinks Nerds Are Sexy, her friend, Grace, who prefers being alone to having to deal with immaturity (while still deeply wanting to love and be loved), and Lillith's socially awkward stalker, Nick Trotmann (who's ALSO implied to be an Author Avatar).The comic is heavily Slice of Life (almost to the point of being a Journal Comic) and much of the humor comes from the friction between the character's personalities. Kossler makes use of puns, Dead Baby Comedy, sarcasm and the occasional Bottom of the Barrel Joke. Strewn throughout are Wham Episodes in which all pretense of humor is dropped and the emotions of the characters are explored... but these are pretty rare.The Word Weary is notable for its tight narrative (issues #4-#79 comprise one day in Webcomic Time) and attention to continuity while maintaining the humor. Kossler has also mentioned numerous times that he tries to make the female characters in the comic as realistic and relatable as possible- while still featuring misogynistic male characters. The comic updates Thursday and Saturday with... spotty consistency.
The Alcoholic: Jason. As stated in this issue, his drinking is driving a wedge between him and his girlfriend.
All Girls Want Bad Boys: Subverted. None of the main female characters seem interested in bad boys.
Elly and Harry have been dating for a year even though he cries when people are mean to him.
Lillith "has a boner" for nerds.
Grace doesn't seem like she likes to put up with shit.
All Men Are Perverts: John sure does like Elly's breasts. He does his best not to show it, though.
All Women Are Lustful: The female characters are just as interested in sex and intimacy as the male characters.
Alternate Universe: In which Sam is a Ranger (with Assassin levels), Jason is a Paladin of Tyranny and Yorick is an Elven Rogue. And John is Vladimir Lenin.
Alt Text: Usually just another joke or John's feelings about the comic in question. Usually. We've seen:
An overly detailed personal history of a minor character.
Algebraic notation of Scholar's Mate.
A long-winded story about the Russian response to the Napoleonic invasion of Austria that happened to take place in a Dallas bar.
Anti-Climax: The last two issues of the Day 1 arc (comics #4-#79) bring most of the comic's plots together until John takes a shot of a Four Horsemen, an extremely alcoholic drink, and blacks out before they can be resolved.
Arc Words: Comics 40, 41 and 42 all end with the same words: "There's no way this can end badly."
Art Evolution: Prior to strip 80, all the Caucasian characters were #FFFFFF white. After the beginning of the second arc, Kossler gave them actual skin color and began shading them.
One commenter wondered if he were trying out new styles and layouts during his "Guest Strip" week, which immediately preceded that comic.
During the parts of the series that take place in the Dungeons and Dragons game the characters are playing, the normally bright color palette is replaced with black and white. The monsters featured in the game are also drawn more realistically, with the notable exception of the White Satyr.
It's subtle, but the color palette becomes much more drab after the start of the second day. (See Darker and Edgier).
During the "Guest Comic Week" that John Kossler admitted he had authored himself, there is a furry comic, a Photo Comic and a parody of Peanuts.
Author Appeal: John fits his interest in history (the Dungeons and Dragons game), the occult (Claude and some of the tapestries in The Abbey restaurant) and indie music (many of the titles) into the comic.
And Russian culture. Lots and lots of Russian culture.
Author Avatar: The About section states that five of the characters are based on the author and his friends.
Badass Mustache: Subverted. Despite his handlebar mustache, Harry the Hipster manages to be the exact opposite of a badass.
Yorick's "This Guy Fucked Your Girlfriend" shirt. It's appeared in nearly every comic since issue 4.
Boisterous Bruiser: Jason likes to give unsolicited advice and kick people's asses for refusing to call him by whatever name he happens to be calling himself at the time.
Bottom of the Barrel Joke: Issues #35 and #72 fall into this category; the former being a gay joke and the latter a fart joke. The author lampshades this in both instances.
Continuity Porn: Justified since the comics all take place close together (see Webcomic Time), but some of the jokes tend to fall flat if you haven't read the whole comic.
The Corrupter: Jason and Yorick to John. They try, at least.
Crapsack World: As John said in the comments section of this issue, the main philosophy of The Word Weary is "when it rains, it pours and also you get struck by lightning and one of the paramedics who revives you steals your shoes."
Culture Police: The Mayor has a Grand Jury indict Yorick for his performance art piece.
Considering the show itself involves copious amounts of blood and Yorick playing a timpani with his dick, it was really only a matter of time before any kind of police got involved.
Darker and Edgier: The plot of the second day is a lot darker than than the first. There were hints throughout the first that the plot was about to take a dark turn, so it's justified.
Deadpan Snarker: Yorick. Pretty much all of his lines so far, in fact.
Derailing Love Interests: Played with. John was ecstatic when he got Lillith's number, but uses Poor Trotmann's lie that she had a boyfriend as an excuse not to pursue her.
Easter Egg: When a person clicks on the comic, most will just take you to the image file by itself. Some however lead the viewer to a different website.
Everybody is Single: Out of the nine main characters, only three are in relationships when the narrative starts.
Everybody Smokes: Most of the main characters- John, Harry the Hipster, Grace and Poor Trotmann- smoke. Some of the smoking is justified by the fact that John works at a hookah lounge.
Evil Debt Collector: Played with: In this comic Stan Becks calls Elly and tells her she has to pay back her recently deceased mother's credit card debt, which Morris later reveals is illegal. Though the debt collection ruins Elly financially, the comic implies Stan is just doing what he has to do to save his job.
Face Palm: Many, many times in reaction to Yorick and Jason's douchebaggery.
Flipping the Bird: John does this when he angrily announces he refuses to do the comic anymore.
Fortune Teller: Played with by Claude- he reads Tarot on the street even though he doesn't actually put any stock into prognostication.
Four Eyes, Zero Soul: All of the characters have Monochromatic Eyes, but Harry is the only character with glasses whose lenses are opaque. Considering he's a manipulative sociopath, he fits this trope nicely.
Most titles are names of songs or albums, but the three issues that end with the phrase "there's no way this can end badly (see Arc Words) all end with a variation on "No Way..."
Issue 96, in which John and Elly have a conversation but their dialogue isn't written, has no title.
The title of issue 61 is the number 61 written in binary and the title of issue 64 is simply called "Nintendo."
Idiot Hair: The little girl who watches Jake attack Poor Trotmann.
It Got Worse: Despite trying to stop the universe from punishing her further in the first arc, the second arc dumps a whole new load of crap onto Elly.
I Wrote Our Story: John Kossler is writing a webcomic about John Kossler writing a webcomic.
While trying to think of ideas to write his next issue (to be released the next day), it's mentioned John has already completed three. Later at the bar he talks about stealing Yorick's shirt as the punchline for his joke- which was indeed the punchline of issue four of the series.
Thus Day One of the comic takes place on March 14, 2011.
Lampshade Hanging: Grace gets chewed out by her boss for her recent tardiness and points out that she called in the previous Thursday. Sort of like how the comic had been going up late often the week previous to it and John did indeed miss the previous Thursday's update.
Male Gaze: Though the comic never frames a scene around women's breasts, it's mentioned many times that John pays attention to little else when talking to women.
"Why bother cultivating this girl if you're not going to plough her?"
"Just imagine everyone you know disappointing you monumentally! That way you get the satisfaction of being right when they inevitably do and you've gained an important skill! It's called 'foresight!'"
"Yeah, buying shit I don't need with money I don't have to make myself feel better when I have no reason to do so. Fun."
Parodied when Elly finds John lying naked on her floor and covers herself in a towel. He wonders to himself why she would bother covering her body if they've had sex.
This is justified since she doesn't remember having sex with him and thus wouldn't feel comfortable being naked around him.
Despite playing Dungeons and Dragons, Jason is in a committed relationship when the comic starts. And John has apparently had sex with someone's girlfriend.
A surprising number of characters have made nihilistic tirades:
Jason is the most prominent example as the majority of advice he gives seems to be based on a wholly pessimistic worldview.
Harry also fits into this trope as he believes everyone he knows will end up disappointing him monumentally.
The author may be playing with the trope as all of the Nietzchian monologues are made for comedic effect, possibly signaling that he finds the viewpoint absurd.
No Social Skills: John is constantly referring to his inability to talk with girls (except, apparently, for Lillith and Elly). Jason and Yorick managed to get the group kicked out of a restaurant.
Nothing Is the Same Anymore: The author flat out stated in his About section that he is willing to make major changes to the characters.
"Not Making This Up" Disclaimer: John has said in many newsposts that much of the content in the comic is based on real life... even when he ordered pizza in the guise of a Dungeons and Dragons character.
Obstructive Bureaucrat: The Mayor ruins a man after claiming a building the man had renovated was historical AFTER the man had spent $150,000 to renovate it.
Raised Catholic: John makes the sign of the cross when he hears a siren and has an icon of the Virgin Mary in his room.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Branden, a friend of the group who works for Yorick, gives one to Yorick after he decides not to fight the injunction on his show.
Rock Bottom: With her relationship on the rocks and her underpaying job keeping her from getting a car, Elly muses that she's "run out of things to go wrong in her life."
Schedule Slip: The author makes much note of the days he updates on time.
Secret Police: Morris refers to Harry as "the Gestapo of Upstate New York."
Many of the comics' titles have their names taken from songs. Another is lifted from a William Faulkner novel.
Chris mentions employees named Jeph, Danielle and Randy and says they work more than Grace does and manage to be on time. (See Lampshade Hanging above.)
Shown Their Work: The panels that take place in St. Petersberg are all photos of the city.
Sliding Scale of Gender Inequality: A very rare Type 5 as the male and female characters are portrayed with the same amount of agency- that being said, there are many more male characters than female.
Slut Shaming: Openly subverted. Mona and Lillith hook up with men shortly after meeting them, but none of the characters who know about their trysts think anything of it. When Elly sleeps with John after knowing him for only a day, she's more concerned about cheating on her boyfriend than the fact that she slept with him.
Played straight: Grace is the only character introduced so far who smokes cigarettes regularly. She seems more relaxed and at peace with the world than the other characters. She also has a nerdy white friend who looks up to her.
Inverted: Poor Trotmann is the opposite of cool and he smokes hookah at the lounge in which John works.
Stalker with a Crush: When Poor Trotmann is introduced, he's staring longingly at a picture of Lillith. Later he tells John she has a boyfriend even though she doesn't.
Stylistic Suck: Inverted. It's a stick figure comic (the female characters' breasts are... interesting) but when the characters are playing D&D, the monsters and villains are drawn more realistically.
In the comic in which John apologizes for missing two weeks of updates, the monsters again show a level of sophistication that doesn't appear in the comic proper.
Lillith seems pretty drunk when she's talking to Grace during the bar scene, but sobers up pretty quickly when she finds Elly passed out drunk on the bathroom floor.
Elly gets so drunk she throws up and passes out in the woman's restroom but seems quite sober when she and Lillith start their conversation.
Take That: Even though he claims to appreciate the novel, the author says in the Alt Text of this comic that half of John Updike's Rabbit, Run is just the author talking about how much he "likes blowjobs and dry humping."
John and Poor Trotmann refer to themselves in the second person during their one-man conversations.
Sam takes this to the next level by talking to one of his hallucinations.
A very meta example: During the infamous first guest comic week that John authored himself, each comic was prefaced with the correspondence between him and the person making the guest comics. Since he wrote them himself, he was literally talking to himself.
Webcomic Time: Every comic from issue four until 79 WAS ONE DAY.
Issue five indicates it's 3:30 in the afternoon and issue 29 states it's almost 9 at night. That means that, in the six weeks that passed between their release, it's only been a few hours.
The trend continues in Day Two. As of this writing, it's about lunchtime the day after the story proper starts... which means that, in 140 comics and over a year of updates, it's only been about 24 hours.
What Did I Do Last Night?: In the second season premier, John wakes up naked on a floor and has no clue how he got there.
White Male Lead: Out of the nine main characters, six are male, eight are white, all nine are heterosexual.
World War One: The Dungeons and Dragons game is inspired by Germany's efforts to get Russia out of the war by demoralizing her populace by financing anti-war groups- including the Bolsheviks.
You Are Not Alone: Judging by one of the comments the author left in response to a fan who took the comic's themes of loneliness and alienation to heart, John Kossler views his entire comic as one reminder to people that he too feels alone and alienated but finds humor in his situation. YMMV on how effective he is at this.
You Need to Get Laid: Jason on why John shouldn't pursue Lillith just as a friend.
You Wake Up in a Room: John wakes from the night of heavy drinking with no clue how he got there.
(sometimes called 'The Word Weary Comic') is a Stick Figure Comic webcomic about disappointment, loneliness and love
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