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WiguWIGU is a web comic created by Jeff Rowland. It was publicly launched on January 7, 2002. WIGU is the successor to Rowland's earlier web comic When I Grow Up. There have been some guest appearances from When I Grow Up, but WIGU is otherwise a different comic with a new set of characters. WIGU ended December 31, 2004. The comic is centered around the adventures of a little boy named Wigu Tinkle and his family. Each chapter of the comic represents one day in Wigu's life. Wigu is an intelligent child with an active imagination who uses much of his free time to watch television and play video games, where he encounters the beings of Butter Dimension, primarily the intergalactic heroes Topato (a flying potato whose catchphrase is "Spring into action!" and whose primary defense mechanism consists of being made entirely of poison) and Sheriff Pony (an eloquent donkey). Wigu has a teenage sister, Paisley, who is the stereotypical goth girl. She actively seeks out depression and angst. Wigu's father Quincy makes money by composing music for porno movies. He is also a bodybuilder and tends to walk around without a shirt, which sometimes gets him into trouble. Quincy is highly protective of his family, even violently so. Wigu's mother Romy, on the other hand, is an emancipated, egocentric, successful businesswoman who shows little interest in her family. She is also an alcoholic. The comic has elements of soap operas and sitcoms, but also features dark, sometimes violent themes -- at one point Wigu is thrown into a coma after being bitten by a giant beetle -- and very surreal ones (without breaking the fourth wall). Over the course of the comic, Topato and Sheriff Pony have become more refined characters, to the point of frequently getting their own independent storylines. They have crossed into the real world and appear to be more than just elements of Wigu's imagination. They live in an empire which seems to be connected to the well-being of Wigu and his family. Both characters are highly popular among the readers. The lovable superhero Topato, upon closer investigation, turns out to be a power-hungry cynic kept in check by the morally pure Sheriff Pony. WIGU, like many web comics, is also an online community, with contests and competitions (a Topato look-alike contest, music competitions etc.). Rowland has published two WIGU books and also uses the website to sell t-shirts. On January 17, 2005, Rowland started a new comic, Magical Adventures in Space. The title comes from the name of the television show that Wigu Tinkle watched in the previous comic. The first five strips featured an unrelated story, Science Cop, which ended unexpectedly with the title character's murder. This was followed on January 24 by another new story, American Platypus, which ran for ten strips and ended on an unresolved cliffhanger. On February 6 the strip returned to the established M.A.I.S. universe and characters, with Sheriff Pony complaining about American Platypus's abrupt ending, revealing that it was a TV show he was watching. Both Science Cop and American Platypus have now been moved to "TV Network Channel: WIGU-TV", so that M.A.I.S. proper now begins with the resumption of the "real" storyline. Bibliography - WIGU, Volume one: The bravest boy in the world. 2002.
- WIGU, Volume two: The luckiest boy in the world. 2003.
See also External links
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