''Dresden Codak'' is a

webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on the internet, such as on a website or a mobile app. While many webcomics are published exclusively online, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or ...

written and illustrated by A. Senna Diaz. Described by Diaz as a "celebration of science, death and human folly", the comic presents stories that deal with elements of

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

and

technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

, and/or

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

. The comic was recognized in 2008 at the

Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards The Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards (WCCA) were annual awards in which established webcartoonists nominated and selected outstanding webcomics. The awards were held between 2001 and 2008, were mentioned in a ''New York Times'' column on webcomics ...

for Outstanding Use of Color and Outstanding Use of The Medium. On October 22, 2008, ''Dresden Codak'' concluded a long-running sequence called "Hob", which focused on the character Kimiko's discovery of a post- Singularity robot and its attempted recovery by people from a future in which Earth was destroyed in a war with the artificial intelligence that once tended the planet. On February 25, 2013, Senna Diaz launched a

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

campaign to raise funds for a hard cover book edition of the webcomic. Dubbed ''The Tomorrow Girl: Dresden Codak Volume 1'', it collected the first 5 years of the webcomic plus additional art and reformatted everything to fit printed media. The campaign reached its original goal of $30,000 in less than 24 hours and ended with a total of $534,994. __TOC__

Subject matter

''Dresden Codaks second longest-running story arc, HOB, focused primarily on the results of a

technological singularity The technological singularity—or simply the singularity—is a hypothetical point in time at which technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseeable consequences for human civilization. According to the ...

and the consequences of

time travel Time travel is the hypothetical activity of traveling into the past or future. Time travel is a concept in philosophy and fiction, particularly science fiction. In fiction, time travel is typically achieved through the use of a device known a ...

. Accordingly, much of ''Dresden Codak'' falls into the

cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting said to focus on a combination of "low-life and high tech". It features futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyberwa ...

and

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

genres. The current and longest-running major story arc is Dark Science. The arc centers on Kimiko Ross, while introducing a few new characters. The arc also utilises to great effect the artistic style of

decopunk Cyberpunk derivatives, variously also called literary punk genres, punk fiction, science fiction punk (sci-fi-punk) or punk-punk, are a collection of genres and subgenres in speculative fiction, science fiction, retrofuturism, aesthetics, and ...

, which, though notably present in the HOB arc, defines the city of Nephilopolis.

Major characters

Dark Science arc

* Kimiko Ross (given name Kimiko Sarai Kusanagi, middle name later given as Serena) is ''Dresden Codaks main character. Her uncompromising devotion to science leads her into social and militaristic conflicts throughout the comic, but also provides much of the genesis for each plot arc. The comic "Mother" alludes to Kimiko's mother's death as the reason for her resistance towards anything that would impede the progress of science or technology. At the end of the "Hob" storyline Kim was badly wounded, losing both legs, her left arm and her left eye. Following these events she uses cybernetic replacements of her own design, which she frequently adjusts and upgrades. * Melchior – a rogue agent of Department of Opposition. * Lilith – a twin of Asmodea. * Xiaoling Chavez – a cyborg woman, a warrior, a former leader of a gang of cyborgs. * Yvonne “Vonnie” Awning – a former lead of a fashionable magazine, now Leviathan and a head of dept. of Inquisition. Kimiko's best friend.

HOB arc

*Kimiko Ross *Dimitri and Alina Tokamak are two of Kimiko's close Russian friends. They are shown to have impressive

superpowers Superpower describes a sovereign state or supranational union that holds a dominant position characterized by the ability to exert influence and project power on a global scale. This is done through the combined means of economic, military, tec ...

and Diaz describes the two of them as "probably Nuclear-Powered", a reference to the

Tokamak A tokamak (; ) is a device which uses a powerful magnetic field generated by external magnets to confine plasma (physics), plasma in the shape of an axially symmetrical torus. The tokamak is one of several types of magnetic confinement fusi ...

nuclear fusion Nuclear fusion is a nuclear reaction, reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei combine to form a larger nuclei, nuclei/neutrons, neutron by-products. The difference in mass between the reactants and products is manifested as either the rele ...

reactor that is their namesake. *Tiny Carl Jung is a tiny version of

Carl Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychologist who founded the school of analytical psychology. A prolific author of Carl Jung publications, over 20 books, illustrator, and corr ...

, "one of the fathers of modern tiny psychology". He seems to live with Kimiko, or at least to associate with Kimiko and the Tokamak siblings closely. *Rupert and Hubert are a pair of Victorian intellectuals who have moved to a magical palace on the moon to escape the insincerity of the world's leaders. They are less frequently recurring than the staple characters of the comic, and spend their time discussing scientific issues in the surreal manner typical of the comic. They do not interact with the other characters.

Reception

The Perry Bible Fellowship ''The Perry Bible Fellowship'' (abbreviated to ''PBF'') is a webcomic and newspaper comic strip by Nicholas Gurewitch. It first appeared in the Syracuse University newspaper '' The Daily Orange'' in 2001. The comics are usually three or four ...

'' creator Nicholas Gurewitch wrote that he enjoyed reading ''Dresden Codak''. The comic's highbrow patter is distinctive yet not based in realistic physical medium: internet pundit Lore Sjöberg described it as "Little Nemo in Higher Education Land", while the pseudo- Victorian

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...

of "Traversing the Luminiferous Aether with Rupert and Hubert" was featured in the "Daily Zeitgeist" section of science magazine ''

Seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

''.

Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards

* 2008

Winner for multiple awards: ** Outstanding Use of Color ** Outstanding in a field * 2008 Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards Nominee for multiple awards: ** Outstanding Artist ** Outstanding Layout ** Outstanding Environment Design * 2007 Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards Nominee for Outstanding Layout.

References

External links

*{{official website, http://dresdencodak.com
Dresden Codak's Hidden Fortress
a "sketch blog" by Diaz (No longer being updated since May 17, 2009) 2000s webcomics Web Cartoonists' Choice Award winners Science fiction comics 2005 webcomic debuts American webcomics Long-form webcomics Science fiction webcomics Transhumanism in webcomics Webcomics in print Kickstarter-funded publications