Pocket God (comics)

Pocket God is a series of digital and paperback^[1] comic books–strips, published by Ape Entertainment,^[2] published and marketed by iVerse Media,^[3] released for iOS devices, and available as a print in retailers, via contest,^[4] on August 3, 2010.^[5] The comic is created and plotted by Dave Castelnuovo and Allan Dye, written by Jason M. Burns and drawn by Rolando Mallada. It describes in the comic about "an indestructible race of people who inhabit a mysterious island and are continuously (and comically) tortured by their mischievous gods". The comic is based on the best selling iOS application Pocket God, created by Bolt Creative's Allan Dye and Dave Castelnuovo. The tribe, 'Ookga Chaka', is based also off the game, with the Pygmies, Ooga, Klik, Klak, Booga, Dooby, and Nooby.

There are currently nineteen comics,^[6] including a special Christmas issue, Xmas Marks the Spot, and fourteen 'behind-the-scenes' comics, named The Pygmy Peril. Although Bolt Creative had stated they were going to only publish four comics, in The Pygmy Peril, however, they stated they were to publish more comics, due to popular demand. Pocket God is rated for "mature readers" and "teen and up", currently, due to violence.

According to iVerse Media, Pocket God is the first original iOS game to have its own comic series.^[7]

A sneak preview of the comic was released on the official website on May 7, 2010, an almost full three months before it was released, stating about the series, and who is involved.^[8]

Setting

The comics are set around six pygmies, named Ooga, Klik, Klak, Booga, Dooby and Nooby, all form their tribe, Oogka Chaka, and are always loyal to their gods, with the exception to Ooga, who thinks worshipping the gods is a waste of time, and does not believe in them. Regardless of Ooga's thoughts, the tribe, Klik mainly, still believe and honour them. The story is set on a small archipelago of islands, approximately 200 Mya (million years ago, set in the Triassic period), when the super continent Pangaea was still formed. According to the game, the islands are located in the Panthalassic Ocean, opposite Pangaea. It is set mainly on Oog Island, the home of the tribe. It is a relatively small island, with a small type of forest. When the Gem of Life faded its colour, the Pygmies travel to an unnamed island, with a large rainforest and a hidden temple. Inside the temple is an Egyptian-like setting, with hieroglyphic writing on its walls. The temple is almost like an Indiana Jones setting, especially when Nooby discovers a hat, (resembling a Fedora). According to Ooga, the islands are located in the tropics.

Plot

The Gem of Life (August – December 2010)

The Gem of Life consists of four parts, in a total of the first four issues, it revolves around the entire tribe as they attempt to return the Gem of Life to its original pedestal, after Nooby clumsily causes their pedestal to be destroyed.

Part 1^[9]

The comic begins with a meteor hurdling towards Earth, while the tribe is circled around a type of totem pole, holding a gem. The tribe is honouring the gods by offering them large amounts of fish. Much to his boredom, Ooga catches his eye on the meteor that is heading straight for him. He then asks dim-witted Nooby to swap places with him. He agrees, then almost immediately, he is crushed by the meteor, killing him. Klak tries to spear the meteor, resulting the spear to ricochet off it then hit Klak in the chest. The rest, except Ooga, are executed from a chain reaction. The next day, Ooga and Klik have an argument why Ooga keeps disrupting 'the pygmy way'. Klik then explains that their ancestors discovered the Gem of Life, and brought it back to Oog Island and gave them something that they have never could have hoped for, or, in Ooga's terms, asked for. Klik tells him to grow up.

Page 1 of Pocket God, showing Ooga moving out of the way of a meteor, with Nooby willingly switching spots.

Meanwhile, a great white shark with what is described as a military nitrogen laser, approaches the island. Meanwhile, Booga is having trouble trying to light a fire on the meteor that crashed earlier; and volunteers Nooby to gather firewood. As Nooby walks into the small forest, he finds an anthill with an ant on top of it. As Nooby talks to it, Up above in a coconut tree, Ooga spills coconut milk onto Nooby. Back at the meteor, Booga asks where he is. Nooby then runs out of the forest, with hundreds of fire ants crawling on him. He then manages to kill himself, Booga and Nooby. Klak then emerges; and after eating a part of a fish head, he suddenly screams towards the sea and submerges his head underwater. The "Shark with Laser" then lurks towards him. As it prepares to eat him, an octopus grabs Klak, and eats him. The next day, the pygmies have a tribe meeting discussing their mortality. He is then interrupted by Nooby, who needs to go to the outhouse. Lightning strikes on the outhouse and he runs out, trying to hold up his grass skirt, while so. he then hides behind the totem pole, with it holding the Gem of Life, and the lightning strikes the pole, snapping it in half. Klik, shocked, exclaims that the gods will 'cast us away once and for all', when the Gem of Life is removed from its pedestal. Klik comes up with a plan to make the gods forgive them, but all but Ooga end up electrocuted. Klik, delusional, but correct, then sees the now discoloured gem and is shocked to say that when the colour drains from the gem, the next time they die, it will be forever.

Part 2^[10]

Klik and the tribe, much to the dismay of Ooga, journey to the neighbouring island to return the Gem of Life to its original pedestal. The "Shark With Laser" shoots a laser through their raft after they had been in the water for countless hours. They all "abandon ship". They resurface to find that Dooby has been captured by the shark. Ooga rescues him, by throwing a spear into the shark's laser beam, electrocuting itself. When they both resurface, immediately they are pulled by a tsunami, and crash on the island beach. While in the jungle, they arrive to a field of banana skins. A pack of apes terrorise the tribe and Klik is caught by one, and killed. Ooga then realises that, since the gem's power has disappeared, Klik is now deceased forever, by that one part of the gem is now a dark grey. After the tribe craft a tombstone for Klik, Ooga decides that he will return the gem of life for Klik, with the approval of everyone, except Booga, who looks pale and delirious. A bug had sucked blood out of him, from his back. Ooga then rips it off of Booga, throws it on the ground, then jumps onto it, with a "bloody" result. Ooga then thinks he needs some food to regain his health, and immediately, Nooby rolls out a gigantic egg, claiming it is a chicken egg. Then a Tyrannosaurus Rex emerges, extremely in aggravation.

Part 3^[11]

As the five remaining pygmies are evading the T. Rex, Klak suggests that they run in serpentine. Shortly after, Dooby is caught by his grass skirt by the Rex's mouth. Ooga then throws a spear, narrowly missing Dooby, but hitting the skirt instead, falling to the ground, naked. Dooby falls on Nooby, while trying to catch him. The tribe is disgusted that he is not wearing anything. The dinosaur returns, and the pygmies run into a cave, stopping the dinosaur in its tracks. Klak passes Dooby a bunch of leaves to cover himself up, and then asks how they are going to get rid of the reptile. Ooga asks Booga if he knows how to get rid of it, but he doesn't respond. Ooga approaches Booga and asks if he is alright, and Booga appears to be wrapped under snake skin. Ooga looks at the gem, and another sixth of it is now grey, resulting that Booga is dead. A giant snake had eaten him, and the Pygmies run out of the cave.

Dooby is flabbergasted and in excitement after discovering a whole field of what appears to be Psilocybin mushrooms. Dooby is then crushed by the dinosaur's foot, leaving only Ooga, Klak, and Nooby alive. They run towards a cliff, ultimately falling off it. They fall into the water, beside the temple, and Ooga and Klak find that Nooby is being chased by a pack of piranhas. The Laser Shark shoots the piranhas, not knowing it has let the pygmies escape. When on land, they discover the temple, but there is a puzzle to open the entrance. Klak and Ooga are stumped, but to their surprise, Nooby cracks the puzzle in seconds. Inside, Ooga finds a skeleton of a pygmy, still wearing its hat, a bag and a wooden sword. Ooga takes the bag, and the sword, while Nooby takes the hat. Ooga then realises that Klak has disappeared, and shouts for him. Klak responds, and they see that Klak is stuck in an unusually large cobweb.

Part 4^[12]

As Ooga fights to free Klak from the web, an extremely large barking spider emerges behind them. Nooby starts singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" when it lands in front of them. They throw themselves away from the beast as it jumps towards them. It then cocoons Klak, who is still stuck. Nooby then says that he rips the legs off smaller spiders and "watch legless balls wriggle". Ooga gets the idea and quickly uses his sword to chop off the spider's eight legs. As Nooby and Ooga try to get Klak out of the cocoon, another fraction of the gem has faded to grey, indicating he has suffocated in the cocoon, but as they rip it open, dozens of baby barking spiders crawl out and chase them. They run off again, both agreeing that they are tired of doing so. As they exit, they push a large circular door to stop the spiders from getting to them. As Ooga explains they are the last hope of getting the gem to the gods, Nooby tells that he didn't believe in them though. Ooga says he does now, but he thinks the gods don't believe in them, and how they deserve to know why the gods are always killing them. As he reaches in his bag, Ooga finds a journal, it reads:

I have travelled once again to this island to uncover the true nature of that which the gods have bestowed upon us.
I have witnessed a side of their generosity that seems more sinister than sincere.
Their gift not only promises eternal life, but from what I have seen, eternal death as well.

As Ooga questions what 'eternal death' means, a zombified hand smashes up from the ground. As Nooby says that he doesn't like scary stories, four zombies come up from the ground. They are the zombified remains of Klik, Booga, Dooby, and Klak, all exclaiming "brains!". Nooby is excited that his friends are back, obviously not realizing they are zombies. Ooga tries to pull back Nooby, exclaiming that they are monsters. Nooby then says that the entire tribe said that Ooga was a monster anyway, except for Nooby. He breaks out of Ooga's grip, and runs towards the zombie pygmies. Ooga then screams for him to come back. As the four zombie pygmies tear the top of Nooby's head off, they question "Brains?" And a shot to a dead Nooby with the top of his head hinging off, there is no brain found in him. As they look at each other, they suddenly look at Ooga, exclaiming more angrily, as how Ooga treated them previously. Ooga, upset, says that it was all is fault for everything, and he failed to return the Gem of Life. As he is saying this, he falls through a hidden trap. He falls through into a chamber, inside the volcano, with five differently coloured organisms, revealing it is the gods. As Ooga asks what they are, the purple god obnoxiously says 'What do we look like, numb nards?', the yellow god tells him to calm down, as he has come a long way. Ooga asks what it all means, life, the red god says "that's not exactly our field of enterprise". Ooga then asks "If you don't know the meaning of life, why do you tamper with ours?" They then say it's not tampering, its fun. He is then confused, then asks why the Gem is dying. They say they have to wait for the next update, but then says that he has to return it to its original pedestal, before they become "nothing more than a Wikipedia page memory". As he walks across the unstable bridge, he asks for all of them back, even Klik. he puts the gem on the pedestal, and walks back, as he is, the laser shark emerges from a small part of the water, shooting a laser at the bridge making Ooga fall towards the magma. Before he does, however, he immediately asks why they were born when there are no female pygmies on the island. They reply, "Who said anything about you being born?". When Ooga falls into the magma, the Volcano erupts.

Back on the home island, Booga, Klak, Klik, Nooby, and Dooby, pop out of mid-air, alive. Then Ooga. Klik then proceeds to say, that Ooga somehow has saved them and appeased the gods as well. As a wave crashes on the island, the Gem of Life is found.

Xmas Marks the Spot (December 18, 2010)

Set after the events of The Gem of Life, released on December 18, 2010, with version 1.4 on iOS. The issue is the Christmas special of the series, introducing two characters to the series, Red, and Newbie.

A Tale of Two Pygmies (March – August 2011)

The second story arc, A Tale of Two Pygmies was released between 30 March, and 3 August 2011, with the eighth issue being released one year since the initial release of the comics. The three-part comic describes how Ooga and Klik's rivalry exceeds towards "catastrophe", and as a result, Ooga ends up being banished from the tribe. With Booga and Nooby joining him on the opposite side of Oog Island, they initiate a plan to steal the Gem of Life from Klik's possession. Klik, after realising that it has been stolen, immediately blames Ooga and engages in a battle, which leads to Nooby discovering another Pygmy, Sun, a female Pygmy, who was in search of the "Jewel of Life", and explains that she had retrieved the Gem. Attempting to escape, Ooga and Klik, who had called a truce, managed to take back the Gem and capture Sun. The epilogue of the final issue shows Newbie, exclaiming, he had survived death from the fifth issue.^[13]

A Quest Called Tribe (September – December 2011)

Part 1

At the beginning of this comic, Klik is visited in a dream by an owl god who tells him that Sun holds clues to the fate of the tribe. He wakes up and goes to find Sun, who has been kept as a prisoner in a makeshift bamboo cell. However, Nooby, who finds Sun attractive, takes her out to watch the sun rise with him, essentially "watching the sun while watching Sun". He also made her a decorated leg bone for her hair. When Ooga finds the two on the beach and scolds Nooby, Sun lies that she tricked Nooby into taking her out so that Nooby would not be blamed. Klik arrives at the scene and declares that all previous events were results of misconceptions, and that they should be helping Sun instead of holding her captive. At a tribe meeting, she informs the boys that her tribe's Jewel of Life had been stolen by Newbie and that the members had split up, following different techniques in hopes of finding it. Though Ooga is against the idea, feeling that Sun is leading them on, Klik insists that they bring Sun back home, believing that it wound answer and create questions about their existence. As they set out, Sun discloses that as she was following Newbie, she passed a seemingly bare and tiny island that Newbie disappeared onto. As they approach this island, they are immediately attacked by an enormous octopus, whose likeness is represented by a small statue on the island. As it captures them and begins to consume the pygmies, Klik reveals that he brought along the Gem, which outrages Ooga. At the last minute, the Tyrannosaurus rex "Chicken" in his zombie form resurfaces from under the ocean and attacks the octopus, allowing the pygmies an escape. Ooga reprimands Klik for bringing along the Gem, claiming that it was irresponsible and that he had led them on a pointless mission. He gives Nooby the gem, explaining that even Nooby couldn't be any more careless with it. As Ooga and Klik continue to argue, Nooby jams the gem into a hole in the statue, uncovering a secret passageway below the ground. Sun speculates that Newbie used the girl's Jewel to unlock the door and escape, and they all descend into the chamber. They find themselves in a cavern full of glowing plants, but at what appears to be a dead end, as the only other exit is through a diving pool. However, Nooby's curiosity proves to be productive again; he takes one of the plants and puts it over his head. Klik examines the plant, discovering that it adheres to the head and exudes oxygen. Taking advantage of this knowledge, they use the plants as a sort of scuba gear and continue their journey into the water. As they pass through large caves with mysterious carvings, they find an opening through which they see a large temple in the distance. Sun is convinced that this is the next step of their journey.

Part 2

The tribe and Sun stare at the temple, but find there is no entry to it. The walls have too many holes in different directions. Sun suggests that they have to search all of them until they can find the right one. Ooga stops her and states that she shouldn't order them around. Sun retaliates by sayong Ooga is a "whiny baby man". Klik stops the arguing and shouts that Sun should appreciate them more because they are helping them, otherwise they would head back. So the group keeps going, while Ooga states that he didn't need Klik's help. Klak notices that the holes in the ocean walls don't look natural and that they were made by someone. While no one is looking, Booga is grabbed by a tentacle. As they go deeper, Ooga states it will take them forever to get out, but Sun says they still need to keep looking. However, Klik points out that the plants they are wearing have a limited amount of oxygen and they only have 20 minutes of it left. Sun notices Booga missing. Nooby looks in one of the holes and he is grabbed by another tentacle. Soon many tentacles come out and try to grab the group. Klik says that it's the creature that made the holes in the wall. Klak and Dooby are grabbed. They swim to a nearby hole and see one of Sun's missing tribe members, Kinsee, stuck in a trap. Klik finds the way to free Kinsee from the trap, but the creature finds the group. Klik, Ooga, and Sun go and try to free Kinsee, but she points out that it's too late. Ooga lets go of one of the levers in anger and the trap activates into a whirlpool. As they get sucked in, Nooby gets caught by the creature. Ooga tries to save Nooby, but he gets caught by the creature himself. Sun cuts the creature's tongue using a nearby stalagmite, but Ooga still tries to free Nooby. Nooby, happy that Ooga likes him enough to save him, decides to die happy and lets go of Ooga. Nooby gets eaten by the creature. Sun and Ooga keep arguing as they float down. As the group wonders what to do next, Klik who hit his head while in the whirlpool, has another dream with the dream creature again. The creature tells him that things are changing and if they don't stop Newbie by sundown EVERYONE is in danger. Klik wakes up in a giant bubble. Ooga explains that a group of sentient creatures known as the Bubble Breathing People have helped them. The leader, King Dumas, says that Newbie came in and pillaged their sacred mine for the gems. So Klik agrees to try to help reclaim the stones. Ooga wonders why Nooby didn't regenerate. Nooby is shown ok, after being dropped out of the creature's "bottom mouth". A stranger in a scuba suit comes and tells Nooby to be quiet. He explains that he is a hunter, who also made that whirlpool trap Kinsee was in, trying to catch the creature (Blob fish) for food. Suddenly someone points a stake at Nooby.

Main characters

The characters in the comic, are Pygmies, which are unusually small. They have their hair tied up with a bone, wearing a grass skirt, or kilt, tanned skin, large eyes, and a large head. Comically, it seems to look that none of them have noses. The following six characters make up the tribe Oogka Chaka.

Final concept drawings of (from top left to bottom right) Ooga, Klak, Dooby, Booga, Klik and Nooby.

Male Tribe

Ooga

Ooga is the "reluctant" leader of the 'Oogka Chaka' tribe. He is monstrously mischievous towards the others and usually causes their deaths. Ooga looks the most similar to the Pocket God game, the only major difference is he has blue eyes, instead of the usual brown. Ooga does not respect the tribe very much, and does not believe in the gods. Ooga loathes Klik, because of his frequent conversations about the gods. Ooga is unbelievably selfish, but when Klik picks on someone for doing something wrong, Ooga stands up against Klik. Most likely because he dislikes Klik. Ooga only gets along with Nooby, whose intelligence is limited and never takes negative subjects seriously, nor positively. Nooby tell Ooga that the entire tribe says that he's a monster, but that he doesn't listen to them. Although Ooga treats him the same as everyone else, Ooga is called by, Nooby, his 'bestest friend'.

Klik

Klik is the most intelligent Pygmy of the tribe, he respects everyone, except Ooga, because he does not believe in the gods. Once again, Klik's description is very close to the game, with brown eyes, but the major difference is his glasses, which are usually banked on the top of his head. This shows his intelligence. Klik usually picks on Ooga and Nooby for the stupid things they have done, like Ooga, for not believing in the gods, and Nooby, for his stupidity. Like bringing a coconut with a face drawn on it called Wilson. Klik thinks Ooga is a monster, along with everyone in the tribe aside from Nooby. Klik is one of the only Pygmies in the tribe who somewhat respects what Dooby has to say, like 'if it was meant to be, it was meant to be'.

Dooby

Dooby is described as a 'Rastafarian hippy' pygmy, he is more relaxed and is always positive that the gods will turn their ways and gift them. Dooby is known to use the word 'dude' after he says a name of someone, e.g.. 'Whoa, calm down, Klik dude'. He is the only pygmy (other than Nooby) in the tribe that does not hate anyone, though he does agree that Ooga is a monster. Dooby constantly reminds Booga to be patient, and at one time, Booga cracks under Dooby's constant reminders to him and the tribe, and screams 'Bull Shark!', an alternative to the similar swear. Dooby looks significantly different than the game counterpart, with dreadlocks instead of a ponytail, which is held up by a bone flute. His facial expression looks more relaxed, less alert, and sports a gold necklace.

Klak

Klak is a cheerful, and unlucky pygmy, the most major difference to him in the comics and in the game is that in the comic he is chubby, and constantly searches for food. The bone in his hair is significantly smaller than the others, comically showing that he is more afraid of dangers than anyone else. Klak usually backs up Booga's remarks, usually standing beside him while doing so. Like all of the tribe, except Nooby, he thinks that Ooga is a monster, but he does not dislike him like most of the tribe. Other than Nooby, he is killed more than any other pygmy in the tribe. He is almost always killed unusually, e.g.. He eats a fish that is too hot and sprints to the water and throws his head in to cool down. Then, a shark with what looks like a military nitrogen laser slowly lurks towards him, almost like Jaws, but before the shark gets its chance, Klak is caught by a giant octopus and is eaten alive.

Nooby

Nooby is a, somewhat, lucky pygmy (according to himself), and he has the lowest mental intelligence in the tribe. He speaks almost entirely in illeism, e.g. 'Ooga mad at Nooby?'. His appearance is again similar to the game, the most difference is that his hair bone has broken off one side, and he has two buck teeth with a wide gap between them. He is always cheerful. In The Pygmy Peril, it is revealed that he becomes easily confused when in a conversation, and that he is best friends with Ooga. Although the tribe thinks of Ooga as a monster, Nooby says that he does not listen to them. Although he is dim-witted, he can be significantly smart in certain situations, such as when Ooga, and Klak were trying to decode a puzzle, and Nooby easily cracks it within seconds.

Booga

Booga is a constantly aggravated pygmy, showing the most difference in appearance than in the game. Instead of wearing a grass skirt/kilt, he wears a type of cloth, possibly a rag, and instead of the normal, 'dog bone', he wears a type of horn to hold up his hair. He is unshaven, unclean, and has a tattoo on his right arm of a bone. He is not easily distracted, and is immediately negative to most circumstances, such as when Dooby says, 'If it's meant to be, it's meant to be', after the gem is discoloured, Booga then proceeds to yell 'Bull shark!'. While Booga agrees that Ooga is a monster, he states in A Tale of Two Pygmies that he would rather be led by Ooga; mainly because he has increased charisma and doesn't talk as much as Klik.

Female Tribe

In the eighth comic, the end of the "Tale of Two Pygmies" story arc, the first female pygmy, Sun, was introduced. She hinted towards the rest of her tribe, which is essentially the male tribe's female counterparts, with some changes. The tribe was introduced one at a time at first, but the remaining three were shown all at once. The arrival of female pygmies sparked romance, arguments, and even eventually led to Nooby abandoning the tribe, only to return in the same issue.

Sun

"The Adventurous One".

Teela

"The Science Nerd".

Toola

"The Hottie".

Moon

"The Goth Girl and Thrill-Seeker".

Linsee

"The Party Girl".

Kinsee

"The Boy-Hater".

Reception

Within a week after the comic was released, it was met with generally positive reviews from many websites and critics.^[14] The comic quickly reached the top 25 in the App Store, and peaking at number 1 in the books category.^[15] Review websites such as App Advice praise the comic for its engagement, interface and overall capability, but criticised it for its short storyline, quoting "Minus the title page, instructions, and credits this is a 20 page comic... it goes by so quickly, and there’s nothing left to do with it." App Advice gave the comic four and a half stars.^[16] 148Apps gave the comic 4 out of 5 stars.^[17]

References

External links

• iVerse Media website
• Ape Entertainment website
• Official Pocket God website
• Pocket God Forums