History Webcomic / TheAdventuresOfJoeTheCircle

** Taken UpToEleven by Bob's stomach, which contains an ''entire alternate dimension''. [[BizarreAlienBiology This is a normal feature for his species]].

Incidentally, you may have encountered Shapiro's work in another form. He's a [[http://www.mikemusic.com composer]] in RealLife, providing music for films and VideoGames, at least [[VideoGame/EmpireEarth one of which]] can be found on Wiki/ThisVeryWiki.

* MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness: A solid 1 on the scale. RuleOfFunny trumps Science every time.

[[caption-width-right:253:Adverbly verbed by Mike Shapiro]]

[[quoteright:253:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/newmenu2_6185.gif]]

* DeadpanSnarker: Ronnie.

* AdventurerArchaeologist: Mattock Blork the Hexagon.

** Later, the Soulwhomper of Klaaaarr.

* BiggerOnTheInside: Bert's car.

* CasualInterstellarTravel

* TheDitz: Franko.
* DoomyDoomsOfDoom: The Planet of Unmanageable DOOM.

* LampshadeHanging: One of the comic's primary sources of humor.

* MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness: Definitely a 1 on the scale. RuleOfFunny trumps Science every time.
* MyBelovedSmother
* NoodleImplements: Besides the normal cards and chips, Zorgellian Mega-Poker is played with a compass, tidal chart, and anvil.
* OnlySaneMan: Ronnie.

* SelfDeprecation: Often showed up in the CouchGags. The rest of the comic (and the site itself) is positively dripping with the stuff as well.
* SpaceIsNoisy: Averted and lampshaded early on. Otherwise played straight.

Incidentally, you may have encountered Shapiro's work in another form. He's a [[http://www.mikemusic.com composer]] in RealLife, providing music for films and VideoGames, at least [[EmpireEarth one of which]] can be found on ThisVeryWiki.

->''[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Action! Adventure! Excitement! Geometry!]] All this and [[SelfDeprecation less]] can be found within the virtual pages of Joe the Circle, the [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative only psuedo-science-fiction comic that takes less than five minutes per episode to draw]]!''

''The Adventures of Joe the Circle'' was an early ScienceFiction WebComic by Mike Shapiro. Originally printed in Shapiro's college newspaper in the early '90s, it first appeared online in 1995. It followed the adventures of [[HeroicComedicSociopath Joe]], a violent, gun-toting circle, along with his companions: [[OnlySaneMan Ronnie]], an even-tempered triangle; [[BigEater Bob the Boobian]], a dimwitted . . . ''thing'' with a gaping maw and limited vocabulary; [[TheDitz Franko]], a clairaudient flying fish; and [[SurferDude Bert]], a laid-back gearhead who provided the crew's transportation.

* AncientArtifact: The Pickle of Power.

* FanCommunityNicknames: The message board was called the "mOb" ("m" for "message," "b" for "board," with Joe's silhouette in between). Posters sometimes referred to themselves as "mObsters."
** "Circlefriends" was also sometimes used.

* ScheduleSlip: It was not uncommon to go weeks, months, or even ''years'' between updates. In fact, the series never officially ended - it just hasn't updated since 2007.
** Lampshaded in Shapiro's bio: "Mike continues to produce Joe to this day, pausing only for occasional three-to-four year stretches of indolence and ennui."
* SelfDeprecation: Often showed up in the CouchGags.

* SlidingScaleOfAntiHeroes: Joe is a pretty solid Type V, but PlayedForLaughs.

The comic was rather crudely drawn, but made up for it with freewheeling storylines, goofy humor, and extremely quotable dialogue. Formerly located at [[http://joe-the-circle.com www.joe-the-circle.com]], the site is currently down - but most of the archives can be accessed in [[http://web.archive.org/web/20040604170524/http://joe-the-circle.com/old.shtml two]] [[http://web.archive.org/web/20100724204012/http://joe-the-circle.com/comic/?page_id=56 chunks]] through archive.org.

* KickTheDog: Invoked by the commander of the Anti-Joe Armada, who drops an anvil on a subordinate to demonstrate his evil.