''Real Life'' is an American

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 ...

drawn and authored by Maelyn Dean. It began on November 15, 1999, and is still updated, after breaks from December 10, 2015, to September 10, 2018, and again from July 16, 2019, to June 15, 2020, from December 6, 2022 to February 26, 2024, and most recently, from April 9, 2024, to present. The comic is loosely based around the lives of fictionalized versions of Dean and her friends, including verbatim conversations, as well as fictional aspects including

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 ...

and

mecha In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines, typically depicted as piloted, humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese (language), Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the meaning in Japan ...

combat. Characters regularly break the fourth wall. ''Real Life'' focuses on humor related to

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

s 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 ...

, and references

internet meme An Internet meme, or meme (, Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''MEEM''), is a cultural item (such as an idea, behavior, or style) that spreads across the Internet, primarily through Social media, social media platforms. Internet memes manif ...

Development

''Real Life'' launched in 1999 and became part of

Keenspot Keenspot 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 i ...

shortly after. Dean switched to the Blank Label Comics collective in 2005 before going solo again in February 2010. The ''Real Life'' website is currently self-hosted by Dean. Year one of ''Real Life'' was published as a

paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, ...

by Starline Multimedia Inc. in 2004, and a second book published by

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a C ...

was released in 2008. A German translation of some portions of the webcomic has been made available on the website's archive.

Characters

*Greg / Maelyn (Maelyn Dean) - The main character of the strip, and a fictional representation of the author of the comic. She seems to vacillate between being the voice of reason and the voice in need of reason. She is also very fond of

Pepsi Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...

, to the point of addiction, going so far as to import Mexican Pepsi because it contains real sugar instead of corn syrup. She used to work as a fuel jock at a small airport, but eventually attended and graduated from culinary school. She previously lived in

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

and

Rancho Cordova Rancho Cordova is a city in Sacramento County, California, United States. Incorporated in 2003, it is part of the Sacramento Metropolitan Area. The population was 79,332 at the 2020 census. In 2010 and 2019, Rancho Cordova received the All-Ame ...

, both

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, but moved to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

- and moved again to

Lockhart, Texas Lockhart is a city in and the county seat of Caldwell County, Texas, United States. According to the 2020 census, its population was 14,379. History The city of Lockhart is named after Byrd Lockhart, an assistant surveyor of Green DeWitt a ...

, but moved back to the California area, where she is once again roommates with Dave and Tony. (In June 2020, the author came out as transgender. Older comics before this point will feature Greg, and newer comics will feature Maelyn.) *Elizabeth "Liz" Dean (née Van Buskirk) - Maelyn's wife, and an avid

cosplay Cosplay, a blend word of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and Fashion accessory, fashion accessories to represent a specific Character (arts), character. Cosplayers often i ...

er; most of the strips have her acting as

straight man The straight man (or straight woman in the case of female characters), also known as a "comedic foil", is a stock character in a comedy performance, especially a double act, sketch comedy, or farce. When a comedy partner behaves eccentrically ...

in contrast to Maelyn's antics. She started out as "Lizzy" to avoid confusion between the "Liz" that had already appeared in the comic and this new Liz. Eventually, the old Liz was phased out and now the new one is called Liz. Liz and Maelyn married in March 2005. *Tony Flansaas - The comic's resident evil overlord, and the fulcrum on which most of Real Life's more far-fetched story lines revolve. They have made many attempts over the course of the comic's existence to take over the world, and has even succeeded a couple of times. *Dave Reynolds - Resident powergamer and supernerd. While the real Dave's currently in the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

, that doesn't stop him from showing up and adding some of his cynical, nerdy point of view to a strip. Dave rivals Tony in technical ability. However, whereas Tony seems to be a genius in all subjects, Dave's genius seems to lie mostly in computers. In one of the earlier comic strips, Dave upgraded his computer into a sentient being. The computer, PAL, went on to become a minor character in the strip, and was joined over time by several other technologically improved computers and consoles. *Crystal - Maelyn's girlfriend when the strip started, but they broke up in 2001. She is no longer mentioned or appears in the strip, but was an integral part of the first year of the strip. *The Cartoonist - Cartoonist Maelyn primarily appears in the strip to make an announcement, to answer questions that readers occasionally send her or to complain about a possible lack of ideas for the strip. Her appearance originally was differentiated from her comic counterpart by a change of colours (light brown overshirt, black tee with white stripes), and slightly shaggy hair. When the character came out as transgender, the Cartoonist was differentiated with longer hair and a different outfit. *Harper Dean - a daughter of Maelyn and Liz. Born on July 29, 2011.

Reception

Maelyn Dean won the "Outstanding Reality Comic" category of 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 ...

four times: in 2001, 2003 (when her webcomic tied with '' Nowhere Girl''), 2004, and 2005 (when her webcomic tied with ''The Devil's Panties'').

Collected editions

* ''Real Life: The Year One Collection''. Starline Multimedia Inc. 2004-08-25. * ''Real Life: The Greg's Notes Edition''.

. 2008

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Real Life (Webcomic) 1990s webcomics 2000s webcomics Webcomics in print Blank Label Comics American comedy webcomics Video game webcomics Science fiction webcomics Reality webcomics Webcomics about fandom Web Cartoonists' Choice Award winners 2010s webcomics 1999 webcomic debuts 1999 establishments in the United States Transgender-related comics LGBTQ-related webcomics