Questionable Content

What do you think of when you think about Massachusetts? Don't be cliché and say the Salem Witch Trials! Everyone (at least in the United States) has heard about that. Let's dig a little deeper... Maybe you dream of the distant, uncultivated lands of the Pilgrim's Massachusetts - Plymouth Rock and the like. Or maybe we're a bit more contemporary, with an obsession with the Red Sox. Maybe Harvard rings a bell. Or maybe names like the Dropkick Murphys, Harry and the Potters, Sebadoh, or Dinosaur Jr. twinkle in your head.

These and other topics may all be valid, but let's think for a moment. Have you heard of Marten Reed? How about Faye Whitaker? Pintsize? Jeph Jaques? Coffee of Doom? Surely you at least know of Deathmøle?

That's right, we're talking about Questionable Content. QC is a webcomic created, illustrated, and managed by Jeph Jaques, full-time webcomic artist. (If you're already lost, asking, "what the hell is a webcomic?" I shall not digress, so I suggest you read up.) This comical slice-of-life webcomic set in Northampton, Massachusetts follows the story of Marten Reed, indie music buff, who's trying to make his way through life as he works away in an office. After meeting the cute Faye Whitaker in a dive bar, Marten is feeling pretty upbeat... that is, until he learns Faye has burnt down her apartment (in a strange series of events that definitely involve toasters).

Marten takes Faye in and a friendship is born. With that, the plot of Questionable Content sets sail, drifting through zany comedy (usually involving sexual tension between housemates or a strange anthromorphic robot that causes far too much trouble), wild romantic interests, and fun times all around, Questionable Content has one strict focus: this is a webcomic based around indie music.

Often playing off the silly clichés that crop up due to the cultural standing of the genre, Jaques weaves his characters through the weird world of indie music's subculture with some talented, contemporary artwork. Somewhere between dissing Conor Oberst for being whiny, reminicing about the long lost days of Pavement, and rockin' out with the one and only (fictional yet audible) QC band, Deathmøle, Questionable Content takes readers/viewers through the average (if not quirky) life of some cool folks who like music.

Jeph Jaques is a busy man! Not only does Questionable Content publish... well, content, five days a week, but Jaques can be proud that he runs one of the few self-sufficient webcomics out there, supporting himself entirely from QC merchandise. The comic follows a plot, so it is chronological. But Jeph's archives have become quite substantial, as he reached comic number 1150 last Monday! We can't forget to mention his other webcomic creation, Indie Tits... a comic all about tits [birds] who talk all about indie music! If that wasn't enough, Jeph has his own music blog with friends called Yelling About Music, though you'll have to read Questionable Content to find the inside joke about that. Finally, there is this little band of Jeph's/QC's called Deathmøle. I won't go into the details (that's for your reading of QC pleasure), but there is a whole library of music right over here. Questionable Content publishes Monday through Friday at around 10PM-1AM EST. And the following comic is basically what I based this music blog off of.