Super Frat

From Comixpedia

First posted in 2005 on the Silent Devil website, Super Frat is sort of like "Animal House" meets "The Justice League". It is updated every Tuesday and is currently in its own domain at www.superfrat.com.

Origins

Sometime in 2000, writer Tony DiGerolamo was doing a comic book signing tour in upstate New York when a group of frat boys Ryesmore University disrupted the event. Later, after DiGerolamo confronted them, they became friends and he was invited to the Lambda Sigma Rho fraternity house for a party. During the party, DiGerolamo successfully made passes as a college sophomore that was considerable younger than the writer. Impressed, the Lambda Sigma Rho brothers and DiGerolamo decided to do a comic book based on their antics. (The same frat brothers later stole DiGerolamo's car. It is unknown how he eventually returned to his home state of New Jersey.)

DiGerolamo was turned down by several comic book publishers that felt the comic would be too racy and lewd for their audience. During that time, the writer met publisher Christian Beranek. Beranek was then working with artist Chris Moreno on a mini-series called "Dracula vs. King Arthur". Moreno had been working with DiGerolamo for years on a fantasy adventure series called "The Travelers" and had established himself as a capable and professional illustrator. Moreno introduced DiGerolamo to Beranek, who had no problem with Super Frat's no-holds-barred comedy. He offered to publish the comic book almost immediately.

At the time, however, Beranek's company, Silent Devil, was invested heavily in the "Dracula vs. King Arthur" mini-series. Additionally, since DiGerolamo wanted Moreno to draw Super Frat, the comic was put in limbo for a few years. During that time, Beranek and DiGerolamo secured an unusually broad licensing agreement from Ryesmore University. The Dean, Dean Calfinch, had been anxious to make the university seem more "hip" to its board members, so he bypassed the usual legal checks and balances before signing the contract. It would be a mistake that he would later regret.

Towards the end of 2003 and 2004, DiGerolamo and Moreno will still promoting "The Travelers" comic book. During the gaming convention, they noticed the creators from Penny Arcade selling T-shirts like crazy. When Moreno commented on the tremendous sales the two had done during the course of the weekend, the Penny Arcade creators assured him that it had been the worst sales they had ever experienced. Once Moreno relayed this story to DiGerolamo, the duo vowed to enter the webcomic arena. This idea was further encouraged by Moreno and DiGerolamo's travels where they met Pete Abrams of Sluggy Freelance and Scott Kurtz of PvP.

By the end of 2003, Seth's Green comic book, the Freshman, had been announced. Although Beranek hadn't been completely sold on the idea of webcomics, he was anxious to beat Image to the punch with a superhero/college comic book. DiGerolamo pushed the idea of getting Silent Devil into webcomics, which he was continuing seeing as "the future of the medium". Working with the Silent Devil webmaster, DiGerolamo launched the Super Frat page in 2004 to a select group of viewers including Dean Calfinch and the brothers of Lambda Sigma Rho. While the brothers loved the strip, Dean Calfinch immediately launched what would become a nasty legal battle to retain the rights to the images of Ryesmore University. The Super Frat webcomic officially launched in 2005 on Silent Devil's website to the general public.

Storylines

2005: Beginning with an indestructible turd in the toilet of the frat house, the first 30 or so strips climaxed with a Nazi robot attacking Collegetown. Two groups of brothers went downtown to fight the menace, but half of them returned to campus so they wouldn't miss a new episode of "Family Guy". The second group, including Indestructible Dick, confronted the robot. It eventually stopped working because its creators, two twin, neo-nazi, little girls, were called to supper.

2006: An army general, desperate for recruits, tries to get permission from Dean Calfinch to recruit on campus. The dean lets him, but only if he targets the brothers from Lambda Sigma Rho, who he wants off campus. The two female recruiters visit the LSR frat house, but are confronted by a hostile Ira (AKA: The Invisible Fucker). Ira, irate about the Iraq War, vows to do everything in his power to fight them. Eventually, it is revealed that the recruiters need to recruit or otherwise they will be sent to Iraq. Ira helps them get thrown out of the army by having them make out in the middle of campus.

2007: The first storyline of 2007 centered around the pledges, Jack and Norm, helping brother MPH fix the Egyptian wing of the Ryesmore Ancient History Museum. This also introduced Brother Biff, a regenerating skate punk. The four get sent back in time by an ancient Egyptian God. MPH joins the Pharaoh and makes the pledges slaves. He later saves them and history, returning them to the present. Biff is left buried alive in a pyramid, but he survives being entombed for centuries. As of this writing (October 2007), the strip has been mostly one-shot stories featuring reoccurring features like Brother Bitter on the Internet, Ira watching TV and Brother Rubber hosting "Masterpiece-of-ass Theater". Recently, three new brothers: Werewolf, Kelvin and Dookie were introduced.

Fraternities

Lambda Sigma Rho:

The members from Super Frat are from Lambda Sigma Rho, the worst frat on the Ryesmore University campus in upstate New York. The current members revealed in the strip so far are as follows:

President: Brother Buzzkill

The rarely seen LSR president is one of the few frat brothers that goes to class. Buzz has longed to gain entry into high society, but his "common" ancestry has barred him entry. The rich, blue bloods of Gamma Iota Alpha sometimes use this to manipulate Buzz to their own ends. After the meteor hit, Buzz gained the ability to emit sonic waves from his mouth. He is embarrassed about the power and rarely uses it.

Vice President: Mistah Shit

Mistah Shit got his nickname for his knack to acquire great weed. He is a brilliant computer specialist, but spends most of his time high. Rumor has it that he changed his GPA by hacking Ryesmore's computer. Mistah Shit has a secret garden growing in the secret passage behind the wall in his room. Only his companion, Señor Cactus, a cactus also knows how to gain entry. Since it is only Mistah Shit that can talk to animals and plants, this isn't a problem, even when he's too high to remember. Mistah Shit often gets animals and plants high. He was made Vice President after passing out in a bean bag chair.

Rush Chairman: Brother Rubber

Spending most of his timing vetting the new female freshmen, Brother Rubber is the defacto leader of Super Frat. He uses his stretching powers, like everything else he has access to, to get laid. Rubber's sexual proclivities have led him further and further beyond the realm of the normal college students. He is good friends with Ira and is rumored to have banged the dean's daughter.

Treasurer: Brother Ira

Ira is an Anarchist and can turn invisible. There is not an aspect of politics that he doesn't have an opinion on and he frequently acts as the conscience of the fraternity brothers. His impulsive nature and penchant for launching into self-righteous tirades have made most people wary of what might be his sound advice. He only joined LSR as part of his own ironic statement against the fraternity system, but later grew to like the other brothers. He was made treasurer after he passed out during a frat meeting. He refuses to do the job.

Parlimentarian: Brother MPH
Brother Malcolm is one of the few African American students at Ryesmore and he sees most systems at Ryesmore University as inherently racist. Gifted with super speed after the meteor hit, MPH found Ira to be a kindred spirit in some of his political views. Malcolm was made parlimentarian as the other brothers are afraid of him and he can easily get them to shut up.

Pledgemaster: Indestructible Dick

Brother Dick has been attending Ryesmore University for at least seven years and shows no sign of ever graduating. He can fly, is super strong and is indestructible. He uses these powers to get even more drunk and disorderly. The other brothers are sometimes forced to manipulate him for their own ends. Dick has some limits on his power. Most things in the frat house that regrew after the meteor hit can affect him.

Webmaster: Brother Bitter

Bitter was going to quit LSR the day the meteor hit. His brain grew to enormous proportions and his body shrunk somewhat. He, so far, seems to be the only brother that was changed so physically. Bitter has built a huge laboratory somewhere in the frat house where he searches for the origins of the meteor that transformed him and ruined his chances of getting laid.

Brother Goth: Count Steve
Count Steve is the Emo brother of LSR. He has the ability to shoot sunshine and happiness from his fingertips, but so far, refuses to use the power.

Brother 22 Tony

Tony can create duplicates of himself, which he uses in his various nefarious schemes. So far, Tony has a scheme to sell fake I.D.'s on campus to freshmen. Although this scheme did not work out so well in "Super Frat: Rush Week Collection", there are rumors of many others.

Brother Biff

Brother Biff Kapow is the resident skatepunk and he has the power to regenerate his body. There appears to be no limits to this power, as Biff accidentally got sent back through time and spent over 3000 years sealed in a pyramid. He found the experience "extreme". He shoots virally videos with Werewolf, Dookie and Kelvin.

Brother Werewolf

Werewolf has the power of telekinesis and got his name from the fact that he is very hairy. He leads Biff, Dookie and Kelvin in a quest to become the most popular video dudes on the Internet. So far, the quest is a dismal failure.

Brother Dookie

Dookie can shoot lasers out of his eyes. He helps Werewolf with his videos and laughs alot.

Brother Kelvin

Kelvin has ice powers and frequently walks around the frat house nude or semi-nude. He also helps Werewolf with the viral videos.

Pledge Jack

Jack is a comic book geek that was pledging LSR because he's a legacy. Since he happened to be in the house when the meteor hit and acquired fire powers, the brothers decided to let him stay. He has thought about quitting ever since.

Pledge Norm

Norm was on a beer run when the meteor hit. He has no super powers. He is often the voice of reason.

Gamma Iota Alpha

The brothers of Gamma House are the Skull and Crossbones of Ryesmore University. They hate the members of Super Frat and activity seek their destruction on campus.

Ask Señor Cactus

The advice column is answered by Señor Cactus, the pet cactus of Mistah Shit, the brother that can talk to animals and plants. The cactus advice is often crude and to the point. It is transcribed by Mistah Shit who ads his own commentary to the proceedings. Señor Cactus has his own myspace page, even though the frat does not.

Other Website Features

As of 10/2007, the website also has special strips dedicated to Spring break, fan week featuring pictures of the Super Frat fans partying with the frat brothers, newspaper clippings about Lambda Sigma Rho at Ryesmore and the Mistah Shit Ganja Defender flash game.