Webcomic / Wally and Osborne

A webcomic about a polar bear and a penguin in Antarctica.

Wally and Osborne is a webcomic by Tyler Martin. It chronicles the many adventures of Osborne, a sarcastic penguin, and Wally, a quirky polar bear, in Antarctica. The small bits of human civilization that pop up in Wally and Osborne’s world, along with the wildlife, set the duo up for all manner of hijinks — frozen water balloons, stolen beaks, tiny penguin salesmen with sleazy business tactics, nearly getting eaten by orcas... you know, the usual stuff.

The format varies from gag-a-day to story arcs, but it's safe to say that the story never takes itself too seriously. Originally starting in 2005 under the title “On the Rocks,” it was syndicated by FunBrain for a few years and was also part of the Lunchbox Funnies collective of all-ages webcomics (which also included strips like Aki Alliance, Cow & Buffalo and Astronaut Elementary, among others). It went on an extended hiatus that started in 2008 and lasted until Martin announced the comic’s return in May 2015. A remastered version of the strip’s original run started on Instagram in 2018, and the newest strips are available on Tyler Martin’s Patreon page.

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This webcomic provides examples of:

• 419 Scam: Briefly mentioned here.
• A Crack in the Ice: Used with thin ice here.
• All Deserts Have Cacti: Antarctica has snow ones made by Wally.
• Beach Episode: With a rather disturbing twist...
• Blatant Lies: After Osborne first tries orange juice, finding he loves it, he remarks, "It's not very good. I don't think you'll want any."
  • "It's worse than I thought... *munch munch* He's evaporated!"
  • "Hi guys. I'm not with him."
• Blinded by the Light: Wally after staring at the sun for too long here.
• Bold Inflation: Often.
• Canis Latinicus: Invoked when Osborne names the frozen prehistoric penguin "Penguinus Maximus".
• Comedic Sociopathy: "At least he's not flailing about anymore."
  • "Well, that was kind of a neat trick, but you did miss some rocks."
  • "Okay, looks clear."
  • How to take care of two mouths to feed.
• Comically Missing the Point: Here:
  Osborne: (after being spit out by Max) Thanks Wally. Any longer and that could have turned out bad.
  Wally: I know. Poor little guy could have choked to death.
• Deliberately Monochrome: Limited palette version. The only colors employed are black, white, blue, orange, and mixtures thereof. Rather impressively, the strip even managed to depict a rainbow in limited colors.
• Evil Tower of Ominousness: ''What?! Where are you going?! You didn't even throw a single snowball!"
• Filler Strip: This strip.
• Funny Background Event: Osborne getting tangled in the paddle ball string here.
• Great Big Book of Everything: Antarctica's Big Book of Facts.
  • It may be sentient, if this strip is any indication.
• Harmless Freezing: The result of getting hit with a hot water balloon.
  • And staying out in a blizzard too long.
• Hollywood Skydiving: During the "BASE Jumping" arc.
• Impossibly Tacky Clothes: Wally here.
• Incredibly Lame Pun: Wally is a polar bear, native to the North Pole, in the South Pole. As Osborne puts it, he's bipolar.
  • The comic's original title, On the Rocks, might also count.
• Lemony Narrator: "This bird slips and falls on its heinie a lot."
• Nose Nuggets: One of these things is not like the others...
• "Open!" Says Me: "I did jiggle the handle a bit... with that snow shovel."
• Orphaned Series: Was one for seven years or so, going on hiatus in 2008. It returned in 2015 with a few new strips, and after some more time off, came back in 2018 with remastered versions of the original strips on Instagram and new ones on Tyler Martin’s Patreon page.
• Polar Bears and Penguins: The polar bear population in Antarctica is exactly "one."
• Recursive Reality: Suggested in the author's notes of this strip.
• Riding into the Sunset: Parodied here: since Wally and Osborne live in Antarctica, the sun won't set in five months.
• Running Gag: Water balloons, snowmen, and toboggans.
• Rock Bottom: Here.
• Shout-Out: "It's a bird!" "It's a plane!" ... "No, definitely a bird." Kinda weird, huh, Superman?
  • "Whatchoo talkin' 'bout Wallace? This has different strokes, folks!
  • One of these things is not like the others... Does that sound familiar to you?
• Shown Their Work: The author knows a lot about Antarctica.
• Snowball Fight: "I need to find some smaller friends."
• Tempting Fate: A perfect day... for a while.
• Toilet Humour: Here.
  • The Wally and Osborne comic... not above using potty humor.
  • "No, definitely a bird."
  • Poor Osborne...
  • "Waiting for Checkers" indeed.
• Underwear of Power: Wally and Osborne's superhero garb of choice.
• Un Sound Effect: *push*
• Vomit Discretion Shot: Implied here.
• Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Here.
• Water Guns and Balloons: Though there are no water guns, water balloons show up quite often.
  • Their first appearance notes that the climate of Antarctica isn't suited for them.
  • Wally's attempt to rectify this mistake ends with Osborne frozen solid.
  • An attempt at using air balloons solidifies Osborne's Butt-Monkey status.
  • Even more so with the helium balloon.
• Waxing Lyrical: "It's like rai-ai-ain on your wedding day!"

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