Concerned

Christopher Livingston started working on Concerned as a hobby. He had previously considered developing a webcomic that would parallel the storyline of the original 1987 Legend of Zelda, for the Nintendo Entertainment System, from start to finish. He chose the Half-Life 2 game world as the scene for his comic because he was a fan, and because the availability of Garry's Mod eliminated the need to draw by hand.[4][5][6] He always intended the plot of the comic to end at the same point as the game.[7]

Livingston thought a comic would be a good way to introduce humor to the game,[7] which he has described as "mysterious, moody, [and] immersive".[4]

Well, I thought Half-Life 2 was a great game, but there simply weren't enough jokes about toilets in it. So, I thought a comic would be a good place to get some humor into the game. I came up with the idea for Frohman, a complete idiot, to play all the way through the game, just like Freeman only instead of being a hero, he'd be a complete fool.

— Christopher C. Livingston[7]

The first issue of Concerned was released on May 1, 2005,[‡ 2] the comic completing its run on November 6, 2006 with a total of 205 issues.[‡ 3] The characters in the comic were posed using Garry's Mod, a tool which facilitates manipulation of the Source engine used by Half-Life 2, and the comic frames were assembled using Photoshop 6.[Note 1]

The webcomic derives its name from one of the propaganda broadcasts by Wallace Breen in Half-Life 2, in which he is reading a letter supposedly written by a citizen, signed 'Sincerely, a concerned citizen', and begins his response with 'Thank you for writing, Concerned'. Throughout the comic the main character, Gordon Frohman, sends several similar letters to Dr. Breen, Livingston's intention being to suggest that Frohman was the author of the letter read by Breen in Half-Life 2.[‡ 4] The name "Frohman" is derived from the last name of Gordon Freeman, the protagonist of the Half-Life series. According to the credits on the comic's website, this name was suggested to Livingston by Sam Golgert, an acquaintance of his.[‡ 5]

Livingston also employed the assistance of other people, notably Michael Clements, founder of the Half-Life 2 comics repository PHWOnline, and author of SKETCH, another comic based on Half-Life 2. Clements aided him in enhancing the presentation of Concerned.[1] Greg Galcik, who started and maintained the website SpinnWebe, also assisted in site maintenance, and Livingston later offered him a "guest week special", in which Galcik wrote and published three issues for Concerned.[‡ 6] A similar set of three issues have also been published by Joe Yuska, during a week when Livingston was unavailable.[‡ 7]

As stated by Livingston in several interviews, his relation with Valve, the developer company of Half-Life 2, was a good one, the company being pleased to have a comic based on their game.[1] According to Livingston, Valve also intended to collaborate with him to produce printed copies of Concerned. However, this was never finalized as the resolution of the comics was too low for printing.[3][6]

Livingston did not continue the comic through Half-Life 2: Episode One, the first of an episodic series following Half-Life 2, as the game "doesn't really lend itself to the type of comic [he wants] to do".[‡ 4]

The protagonist of the comic asks how it is possible for him to pick up objects without using his hands, a reference to the player's hands not being visible in Half-Life 2 when holding anything other than weapons.

Livingston stated that the comic was a good way of pointing out several shortcomings of video games and first-person shooters in particular. He emphasized the presence of various objects throughout the levels of games which were intended to aid the player, but would have little chance of being found in the real world in a similar manner.[4]

There's a lot of elements about video games to poke fun of, especially in first-person shooters, which all have a lot of things in common, such as health kits, ammo, and barrels filled with explosive material strewn about levels for no practical, real-world reason. It just seemed like a good setting to make jokes.

— Christopher C. Livingston[4]

Much of the comic's dark humor is derived from its contrasts with Half-Life 2: in a depressing, dark vision of a conquered humanity's future, Gordon Freeman becomes a hero and savior; the similarly named Gordon Frohman, on the other hand, is just an average person, improbably cheerful to the point of stupidity, and somewhat naïve as to what is actually going on around him.[7] For instance, Frohman fails to realize that his return-addressed letters to Doctor Breen reveal his location, and so result in that location being invaded, bombed, or otherwise compromised.[‡ 9]

The comic contains many references to events and objects in the game. In one comic, Frohman makes a clerical error that causes the Combine to order far too many explosive barrels, thus suggesting an explanation for the barrels' ubiquity throughout City 17 and beyond.[‡ 10] In another, he writes a letter to Dr. Breen asking why using his flashlight reduces his ability to run, a reference to Half-Life 2's flashlight and sprint functions using the same power source.[‡ 11] In a further strip, the town of Ravenholm becomes the headcrab-infested ghost town seen in Half-Life 2 after Frohman writes to Breen expressing his happiness with being there, giving away Ravenholm's location.[‡ 12] Indeed, Frohman causes (intentionally or accidentally) many of the disastrous circumstances that Gordon Freeman runs across. He accidentally gives Breen the idea of headcrab shells while on a radio,[‡ 13] and sets up all of the traps in Ravenholm himself in an attempt to catch Father Grigori.[‡ 14]

It is also revealed that, at the Black Mesa Research Facility, Frohman causes the resonance cascade that allows for alien forces to invade in Half-Life by accidentally delivering a wedge of cheese, instead of the intended test sample, to the test chamber where the cascade flashpoints.[‡ 15] Half-Life: Decay, however, indicates that Dr. Gina Cross is responsible for this task. Livingston admitted he did not play Decay, and thus was not aware of its storyline. He also stated that the comic takes place in the PC version of the Half-Life continuity, and since Half-Life: Decay was never published for the PC, it does not affect the comic.[‡ 16]

The comic has had positive reception from both the public and editors of various gaming magazines. The Globe and Mail stated the comic "stands out from most other gamics (comics consisting of game screenshots) by virtue of the quality of its writing and presentation".[1] Online magazine GGL.com said that "Concerned is one of the funnier online gaming comics, and perhaps the best single-game parody in the bunch",[4] and The Irish Gamers described Concerned as a "hit webcomic".[3] Computer Gaming World called the comic "funny"[2] and featured two exclusive three panel comics not found anywhere else,[‡ 17] while PC Zone described it as "mildly amusing".[8] The comic had also caught the attention of reviewers outside the United States and the United Kingdom; the Romanian magazine Level said the comic is "a recommendation to every fan of the game and anyone looking for a good daily laugh".[9]

• Official website