Wapsi Square

Wapsi Square is a web comic by Paul "Pablo" Taylor, about the eccentric lives and relationships of a group of neighbors from the fictional square of the title, in Taylor's home town of Minneapolis.

For the most part it resembles a comic soap opera, but events sometimes take a more surreal, and occassionally quite dark, turn. One of the characters, Monica, has psychic powers and is on speaking terms with a mischievous Aztec god. Moreover, she and her friend Shelly both suffered traumatic childhood events which often color their present-day relationships.

The comic made its debut on September 9 2001. In October 2003 the comic was picked up by KeenSpot, but on May 24 2005 it left KeenSpot to become part of the Blank Label Comics consortium.

Wapsi Squre maintained a regular three-times weekly schedule from its inception until July 2004 when it was increased to five days a week. The comic is usually a black and white single strip, but has occasionally lapsed into color and/or bigger formats.

A print collection, Wapsi Square Volume 1 (ISBN 193277517X) appeared in February 2005.

Characters

(Partially derived from Wapsi Squre website)

• Monica Villareal - a short, busty young woman, half Irish, half Mexican. To all outward appearances she is charmingly awkward and naive, but this masks some deeper psychological problems. As a child she often spoke to her great-grandmother, only to be told that the great-grandmother had died twelve years earlier. Later she spent four years in psychiatric care after a failed suicide attempt. After her recovery she gained degrees in Art History and Anthropology, became owner of an antiques store and currently works for the University Museum. It was there that she accidentally awakened the diminutive god Tepoztecal, who has been a constant presence in her life ever since. The dark side of Monica's psychic powers is evidenced by a recent storyline in which her self-doubt took on human form and urged her to attempt suicide once more. Monica succeeded in banishing it - for the time being. Recent storylines have hinted at more psychic revelations concerning Monica.

• Tepoztecal - three-foot-high, blue-skinned Aztec god of alcohol, awakened from a 400-year slumber by Monica and now living with her incognito. His powers involve all aspects of alcohol; he can create the perfect martini out of thin air, prepare any type of alcoholically-marinated food, and make people instantly drunk. He once transported a marinated turkey directly into Monica's stomach to help her sleep. This worked, but caused some digestive complications.
  He is apparently not a figment of her imagination, since Dietzel can see him, and Shelly has also seen and spoken to him. Considers himself Monica's friend and protector despite the fact that she (sometimes) hates him and has often been placed in danger by his actions.

• Bud, Brandi and Jin - three "drunken college girls" accidentally summoned by Tepoztecal. They are actually temple guardian golems of enormous power, but around Monica they usually act like annoyingly frisky teenagers, because that was the way Tepoz envisioned them when he summoned them. Named after various alcoholic beverages.

• Dietzel - Monica's "almost human" bull terrier. Seems to have picked up some of Monica's geeky awkwardness in his training.

• Shelly Wahnee - a Native American girl from the Southwest, proud of her Comanche heritage. Plays cello and bass guitar and has a music degree. Plays bass in Jacqueline's band Fermented Banana and works in her father's auto repair shop. Her refusal to admit that she has a crush on Owen was complicated by Owen's relationship with Lakshmi. She also feels close to Heather, but is uncertain about her true feelings because of Heather's lesbian attraction to her. She also has psychological issues related to her mother's death which complicate her attitude to relationships. Her attempt to talk things through with Heather was interrupted when a bowling ball fell on her head and knocked her unconscious.

• Amanda Ehrlich - a photographer by trade, she is Monica's closest friend and sternest critic. Described as "a strong willed individual who believes that natural selection has been destroyed by society and thusly we are perpetuating a nation of idiots".

• Owen Albrecht - a long-time friend of Shelly, he is an easygoing young man who plays guitar and keyboards in Fermented Banana. Owen eventually became Lakshmi's boyfriend, despite being slightly intimidated by her size and strength, having completely failed to notice Shelly's interest in him.

• Jacqueline Bontemps - a formerly shy and retiring girl from Maine who came out of her shell in high school and became a drummer in a friend's band. She has inherited a fortune from her Great Aunt, but prefers to lead a 'normal' life. Runs a yoga studio and still performs as the founder-member of Fermented Banana. The band's name comes from an incident that Monica told them about: one day while trying to brush her teeth in the dark she squeezed the contents of a fermented banana onto her toothbrush by mistake.

• Daren Watkins - bartender and confidante to Monica and her friends. A former school teacher, which he sometimes finds similar to running a bar.

• Lakshmi Prasad - a tall athletic young woman of west Asian extraction. She has won an Olympic medal for swimming and her other interests include wind surfing and rock climbing. She also has a summer job at her father's construction company. Although she is very muscular, she thinks of herself as feminine.

• Heather Mills - a tough Texan from a military family, she has Army experience, electronics expertise and an enthusiasm for shooting. She is also a lesbian. Currently program director for an ailing Minneapolis radio station. Her boss says she works too hard. Her closest friend is Shelly; she has not yet met the other regular characters.

• Katherine Gilchrist - an expert in preservation and restoration, she works in the University Museum's textiles and materials department. Once revealed to Monica that she is a closet nudist at home. Lives alone except for a pet fish. She has a compassionate personality and in recent storylines has shown herself to be thoughtful and intelligent, but her chronic shyness puts her off meeting people. The fact that she spends most of her time indoors has given her a pale complexion, which coupled with the fact that she seldom smiles and has dark, hollow eyes, tends to put other people off meeting her. Thus her loneliness is something of a vicious circle. Discussions in the strip's Forum revealed that fans like her and would like to see her find happiness.

• Tina - works at the local coffee house. She is always unfailingly optimistic, despite occasionally getting orders wrong, and tries to see the good in everything and everyone. In spite of this, nobody seems to know her last name.

External links

• Wapsi Square (http://wapsisquare.com)
• Blank Label Comics (http://www.blanklabelcomics.com)
• Keenswag Store: Wapsi Square Volume 1 (http://www.keenswag.com/customer/product.php?productid=16245&cat=0&page=)