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Achewood: The Great Outdoor Fight
(Achewood Dark Horse collections #1)
by
Since 2001, cult comic favorite Achewood has built a six-figure international following. Intelligent, hilarious, and adult (but not filthy), it's the strip you'll wish you'd discovered as an underappreciated fifteen-year-old. Dark Horse presents the hardbound edition of Achewood's The Great Outdoor Fight, the story of "Three Days, Three Acres, Three Thousand Men."
...more
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Hardcover, 104 pages
Published
September 2nd 2008
by Dark Horse Comics
(first published September 1st 2008)
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Showing 1-30
Start your review of Achewood: The Great Outdoor Fight
Well, I loved the concept of this book. . .
I mean - GEEZ! Right?
Thousands of men duking it out until the one still standing is declared the winner. It sounds kind of like when the WWE boys snap their collective caps and start whaling on each other and for once the whole thing doesn't look completely rehearsed.
Unfortunately, the concept was the best thing about this book. Most of the pages are taken up with the adventures of this critter -
- who only fights one dude at a time, only wins by cheati ...more
I mean - GEEZ! Right?
Thousands of men duking it out until the one still standing is declared the winner. It sounds kind of like when the WWE boys snap their collective caps and start whaling on each other and for once the whole thing doesn't look completely rehearsed.
Unfortunately, the concept was the best thing about this book. Most of the pages are taken up with the adventures of this critter -
- who only fights one dude at a time, only wins by cheati ...more
Chris Onstad is my wife. Today is our wedding.
Ray Smuckles, a bear wearing sunglasses with lotsa cash who lives in a mansion, hears about The Great Outdoor Fight from his mother when she visits him randomly at the start of the book. The Fight takes place outdoors and is a kind of Royal Rumble melee of 3000 men beating on each other for 3 days and the last man standing is the victor. Also much turkey and brandy is consumed on the second day. Ray hears that his long-lost father was a champion of the Fight in the early 70s and decides that he
...more
Three Days, Three Acres, Three Thousand men. Onstad at his best, and full of amazing supplemental information. This is probably the closes you'll get to providing a good starting point for someone wanting to read Achewood, "in context" enough for long time readers, but separate from the main story to not require prior knowledge of every character's history.
...more
Chris Onstad's Achewood internet comic was at one time one of the most important parts of my weekday, and I've spent countless hours hitting the "random" button to read his genius comics. This is a book version of his most successful plot thread with extra 'lore' and shit like that. It's amazing and breaks my heart even more that Achewood has gone on indefinite hiatus.
...more
Completely original. Collection of online strips, now in hardcover.... a story about participation in this year's Great Outdoor Fight, and both front and end matter document this long history, with recipes from local restaurants. Some reviewers didn't find it funny. I get that. That is sort of the point, or beside the point, as this feels almost like a cult phenomenon, where people are just doubled over laughing at the lame violence and graphic jokes... and the fact that it IS so lame is the poi
...more
Sep 29, 2008
Chadwick
rated it
it was amazing
Recommends it for:
everyone in the world
Recommended to Chadwick by:
Erik
Shelves:
comics,
best-books-ever-man
One of the most perfect graphic narratives ever. Man. This reasonably-priced, gorgeously designed hardcover is a perfect introduction to the wonderfully-written world of Achewood. The characters are perfect, the humor sublime, and the minimalist art has a simple elegance that only gets richer as you read more. While almost all of the content is available for free online, having in in a portable edition is a joy. Buy this, buy one for you friends, and hell, buy one to give to a stranger. Our sad,
...more
"Dude, you didn't fugue, you were just berserk. That's like comparing a lunatic to a pissed guy with goals."
The Great Outdoor Fight tells the story of a long-running toughest-guy-around tournament, and a pair of friends who weasel their way into it. The animation reminds me of South Park, not so much in the look of it but in the way it's simultaneously awful and amazingly expressive. A lot of information is conveyed in every inexpertly drawn panel.
It surprised me how much I enjoyed this book. I ...more
The Great Outdoor Fight tells the story of a long-running toughest-guy-around tournament, and a pair of friends who weasel their way into it. The animation reminds me of South Park, not so much in the look of it but in the way it's simultaneously awful and amazingly expressive. A lot of information is conveyed in every inexpertly drawn panel.
It surprised me how much I enjoyed this book. I ...more
I just don't see the appeal. Is it the over the top violence? The author puts in the work to create a detailed history for the Great Outdoor Fight, but the strips themselves don't create a compelling story.
...more
Loved it. Been obsessed with Achewood since a co-worker showed it to me about a year ago. Somehow Chris Onstad makes one strip laugh out loud funny and the next one sentimental and poignant. "Our every move is the new tradition," is a line that's said and I keep reciting it in my head. I think RollingStone put out a list of Top 50 graphic novels that aren't about superheros. They put this one at #14 and although it's hardly a graphic novel (as much as a collection of strips is one) I'd still put
...more
I think achewood as a whole is the best piece of art to come from the internet, and the great outdoor fight is the most coherent continuing plotline; this book is a collection of those original achewood strips with additional content to fill out the mythology of the event that the plot goes through. the great outdoor fight is the a 3,000 man melee that takes part over the course of three days, with only one winner. that sounds serious. but achewood is a comedy strip, and most of the pleasure tha
...more
I borrowed this from the library on a whim and dove into reading it without knowing anything about the story or its characters. At first I couldn't tell if I liked the art style or the characters or even the story, but all three wound up growing on me. I even went back to read the Introduction, something I never read, and was totally fascinated with the history of the Great Outdoor Fight, which seems oddly plausible.
...more
Less a collection of strips than a concept book that continues to use Onstad's strip structure, this features all the same characters in an ongoing storyline that has a concrete beginning middle and end. Hilariously inappropriate as always, the fighting take down techniques are offbeat and tricky.
...more
I only read about 25 pages of this one. Not my thing.
An impressive balancing act between stupid and transcendent.
hell yeah
What an odd world, this world of Achewood. I came into The Great Outdoor Fight blind, and was thus convinced by excellent writing and a state of confusion that (view spoiler) I was even more confused when, following the documentary-style history of The Great Fight in question, I was presented with wise-ass, street-talkin ...more
Now that Chris Onstad is too busy to update Achewood with new strips, I finally picked up a copy of the book causing all the trouble... The Great Outdoor Fight. I've been waiting to see a fully fleshed-out Achewood ever since the excellent Ray goes to hell story arc and this book, for the most part, satiates. Onstad does well by keeping the focus on Ray and Roast Beef, a fascinating Brothers Karamozov-style dynamic if there ever was one. Maybe it's just because I read
Watchmen
recently, but
...more
I picked up this book recently because the reviews I'd read made it sound like a minor work of genius. But, I have to admit to being a bit underwhelmed. All three of the stars I'm giving this are for the presentation and the front and back matter which book-end a fairly charmless comic book. To be fair, I haven't really read Achewood before this, so I could be missing some of the appeal which comes from reading long-followed characters in a more long-form tale (though I believe all of this origi
...more
Catching up on reviews!
I haven't exactly made any secret of my love for Chris Onstad and Achewood (people who are actually Facebook friends with me, which is everyone on here, I guess, will note he's my only "inspirational person"), so giving this five stars shouldn't come as any surprise. You can make all of the accusations about Achewood dropping off quality-wise and I won't make a peep (I think it's peaked, too), but this is a shining example of the strip (is it a strip?) at its best. Onstad ...more
I haven't exactly made any secret of my love for Chris Onstad and Achewood (people who are actually Facebook friends with me, which is everyone on here, I guess, will note he's my only "inspirational person"), so giving this five stars shouldn't come as any surprise. You can make all of the accusations about Achewood dropping off quality-wise and I won't make a peep (I think it's peaked, too), but this is a shining example of the strip (is it a strip?) at its best. Onstad ...more
Combining an astoundingly sparse drawing style with rich background writing and development, it's hard to take in Achewood:The Great Outdoor Fight in one sitting.
The actual plot is a violent and somewhat disturbing riff on the Clint Eastwood movie Any Which Way You Can where there's no interference, but the fight has its own rich history and etiquette.
Indeed, this history and etiquette is where Chris Onstad really shines, providing creative color to an otherwise very simple plot.
As it's my fi ...more
The actual plot is a violent and somewhat disturbing riff on the Clint Eastwood movie Any Which Way You Can where there's no interference, but the fight has its own rich history and etiquette.
Indeed, this history and etiquette is where Chris Onstad really shines, providing creative color to an otherwise very simple plot.
As it's my fi ...more
Three days! Three acres! Three THOUSAND men!
I've probably read this storyline 5 times on the interweb, but I was still genuinely LOL-ing reading it on paper, to the point where I couldn't even breathe when I got to this scene. Achewood delivers and then it keeps delivering.
The new material (mainly text: historical info on the GOF, a glossary and some character bios) is fine, I could take or leave it. The main thing is that the story is eternally awesome.
I just wish the original alt texts had bee ...more
I've probably read this storyline 5 times on the interweb, but I was still genuinely LOL-ing reading it on paper, to the point where I couldn't even breathe when I got to this scene. Achewood delivers and then it keeps delivering.
The new material (mainly text: historical info on the GOF, a glossary and some character bios) is fine, I could take or leave it. The main thing is that the story is eternally awesome.
I just wish the original alt texts had bee ...more
Apparently I'm the only person who feels this way as this is standing at a 4+ on Goodreads, but this just might be the stupidest book I've picked up this year. I wasn't expecting high brow when I picked up something called "The Great Outdoor Fight," but I wasn't expecting dog testicle smartphone accouterments and a sort of Patrick Swayze-esque road theme that dominated the book. In fact, this was so mind-numbing to read, I though of dumping it halfway through...which is saying something since th
...more
Achewood being the quintisential hipster webcomic, I would expect nothing less from the book. It was nice to read a full story arc in a larger format and all together (and on paper no less!), not to mention the sheer amount of extra material the author has put in (almost half the book), including a history of the Great Outdoor Fight as well as select biographies of past years' winners. Though previous knowledge of Achewood would help one understand the characters, I'm pretty sure you'll get by (
...more
Chris Onstad is a fabulous putter-together-er of words. The characters are rich and exquisitely laid out. Onstand's world is detailed, relying on tropes you didn't realize you knew in order to create a world just bizarre enough to be plausible as a real place.
Taken from a long-running webcomic, this is a standalone story arc. There's plenty of added content (the glossary! the bios! the recipes!) for those who've read the plotline via the web. Plus, the book is a goddamn gem to touch. It makes my ...more
Taken from a long-running webcomic, this is a standalone story arc. There's plenty of added content (the glossary! the bios! the recipes!) for those who've read the plotline via the web. Plus, the book is a goddamn gem to touch. It makes my ...more
I have enjoyed Achewood online for a couple years, and thought this was good, but obviously an early stage in the Achewood experience-- the backgrounds are mostly missing in many stages, and the conceptual use of space and weird panels aren't yet there.
The humor and characters are there, though, as is the brash attitude and sensibility. There's a rollicking narrative energy to it as well, which is kind of reminiscent of early Popeye stuff. I liked this, and thought it was good, but the stuff tha ...more
The humor and characters are there, though, as is the brash attitude and sensibility. There's a rollicking narrative energy to it as well, which is kind of reminiscent of early Popeye stuff. I liked this, and thought it was good, but the stuff tha ...more
Why in the world is this so popular? Art that's only very slightly better than what I did in Microsoft paint in 6th grade, juvenile characterization....and a rather noticeable lack of humor. Actually, the whole thing seems like something a 6th grader might enjoy--it's frequently naughty without ever being anywhere near "clever" or "smart." I love comic strips, so if I can get through the whole book without even being tempted to crack a smile....
I'm pretty sure this book represents the exact anti ...more
I'm pretty sure this book represents the exact anti ...more
If you haven't experienced the legend of the Great Outdoor Fight, get yourself to achewood.com and find your way there. And then read the online comic every day. You will not be disappointed. And if you want a beautifully designed hardcover book containing all the strips from the fight arc, as well as some print-only supplementary materials, then pick up a copy of this Dark Horse publication. Truly lovely.
...more
Sep 15, 2008
Caleb
rated it
really liked it
Recommends it for:
Achewood's definitely love it or hate it, but definitely to people who aren't easily offended
Recommended to Caleb by:
It reccomends ITSELF.
Shelves:
comic-strips
Probably the best-written and funniest webcomic gets its first paper collection, slightly re-formatted so that the story arc from the web strips reads more like a graphic novel. I'm not sure this story, one of the most popular, is actually the best place for new readers to start Achewood (and the first few pages are devoted to a not terribly funny business scheme which leads into the Outdoor Fighting) but still--Internet-free Achewood.
...more
I owe the NPR Books podcast for this little cartoon gem. I had read some of Onstad's online comics, not knowing that he had produced a book of this particular thread.
The comic strips in this book were extremely entertaining. I could have done without the section at the end which gives the history of past winners of the GOF. Maybe I will appreciate it one day, but sort of skimmed it, then skipped. I thought the introduction with the history of the fight was a great addition. ...more
The comic strips in this book were extremely entertaining. I could have done without the section at the end which gives the history of past winners of the GOF. Maybe I will appreciate it one day, but sort of skimmed it, then skipped. I thought the introduction with the history of the fight was a great addition. ...more
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“Dude, you didn't fugue, you were just berserk. That's like comparing a lunatic to a pissed guy with goals.”
—
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“YOU GONNA STAND THERE WITH YOUR BUTT ON THE BACK OF YOUR BODY OR ARE YOU GONNA GET IN ON THIS, BEEF?”
—
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