Bike Across Loathing

A webcomic that makes jokes about life in a world where everything is already a joke. Written by Cratmang. Based on the world and setting of Kingdom of Loathing by Asymmetric Publications. Bike Across Loathing is a fan-made project, and is not associated with Asymmetric. Any conflicts with and divergences from the original game's canon, game mechanics, and/or cannons should be taken with a grain of salt, plus pepper to taste. Batteries not included.

[bikeacrossloathing]

Entire Shoplifter 2

One of my favourite strips from the original FcoL lineup was a one-off that featured the Entire Shoplifter. So of course when inspiration struck in the form of the newest challenge path, I had to do a sequel.

I wanted to get this comic done while the Mayam calendar was still available in Mr. Store, which... at the time of this posting, it still is, but only for a few more hours. The Mini Kiwi was sort of a last-minute addition, but well worth it if you ask me.

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Heyo! Sorry the next comic took so long. I've been distracted with college and life in general.

If you didn't know, Cuteness is a secret sixth element in Kingdom of Loathing. However, while there is one (and only one) item that grants "Cute Resistance", there isn't a single enemy, hazard, attack, item, or even an effect that deals cute damage. The only reason it exists, as far as I can gather, is because Asymmetric wanted to add a quest that referenced The Fifth Element, despite already having five elements.

Also, I realized at some point while drawing the "Can I call you Big Sis?" panel that Princess had a hook hand in the previous strip, but in this one she doesn't. Thankfully, it's just a prop, so I can say that she left it in the sandcastle.

[bikeacrossloathing]

hey dude your cool as hell. i. i am a kol fanatic

Thanks, I'm always glad to hear that people enjoy my work.

[bikeacrossloathing]

Meet the new addition to the group, Princess! She's the orphan tot that Ed found in the Imp Lode back in FCoL's second-last comic, although she has much nicer hair now.

I actually intended to give Ed the Trick-or-treating Tot from the beginning, for no real reason other than I thought it would be funny to give the ancient mummy a child to care for. I'm still committing to the gag, as you can see, but now I have a better idea for Princess's character, and the dynamic between her and Ed.

And yes, I know that Ed can't actually use familiars in-game, shut up.

[bikeacrossloathing]

Welcome Back

Surprise! I'm back, and I have invoked the power of rebranding! No particular reason, I just think that "Bike Across Loathing" is a better and cooler name than "Fancomic of Loathing."

It's been quite some time since I posted my last comic, hasn't it? Since then, I lost motivation for FCoL, and shortly afterword lost interest in playing Kingdom of Loathing. But the bug has bitten me, and this game still holds a special place in my heart, right next to Donkey Kong 64 and Speed Racer.

Anyways, I'm hoping to update once every two weeks or so. Maybe more, if I can find the time.

Until then, take care, and have a Merry Crimbo, everyone. :)

P.S.: Because I am too eager to wait until everyone finds all the references in Pearl's flashbacks, and I like to ruin fun, here's a full spoilerlog (under cut):

Wart Dinsey is the final boss of Dinseylandfill, which is a not-so-subtle trash-themed parody of Walt Disney and Disneyland.

"May I have the honour of taking your life?", is word-for-word the same famous line spoken by Thorn Princess in Spy x Family (the "x" is silent). Pearl is even copying her pose.

"Honour" is spelled wrong, because I am Canadian. :)

"Again? Tomorrow? Forever?" is taken from "Die Again Tomorrow Forever," which is the title of the film that Jimmy and his friends were watching at the beginning of The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron - Operation: Rescue Jet Fusion. The entire episode is a parody of the James Bond film series.

In the 1990s, when Pokemon Red and Blue were first released in North America, players discovered the existence of Mew, the unobtainable 151st Pocket Monster. There were several rumours as to how you could find and catch Mew. One of the most well-known is that the player must interact with a truck that was unreachable without making use of glitches.

Mu, who has absolutely no relation to Mew, is a bundle of joy, and I love them.

The scene where Pearl is dressed as a pirate isn't referencing anything in particular. I did have a couple ideas for gags, but I acted on none of them.

The final scene is a depiction of the end of the Repair the Elves' Shield Generator quest, which takes place on the moons of Loathing. In order to get this quest, you'll need to use a Transporter Transponder, which are only dropped by the Li'l Xenomorph familiar (which you can see riding in Pearl's sidecar). No idea where it gets them, it's probably best not to question it.

[bikeacrossloathing]

One More Game Confession: I still haven’t played the Avatar of Sneaky Pete challenge path. But from what I’ve read + understand about AoSP (as well as the other two “Avatar” classes), your character is capable of communicating with their patron to some degree, but it doesn’t happen too often.

I’m hoping that, eventually, I’ll be able to flesh out Pearl’s relationship between her and Sneaky Pete himself, and exactly why she’s his Avatar.

Of course, given how often I update this comic, it’s possible I might not ever actually do so.

[bikeacrossloathing]

Please tell me I’m not the only one who wished I could loot more than a few meat from that imp lode during the Deep Fat Friars’ quest...

I originally planned to have Pearl beat the damned crap out of the imp, but then I remembered that the Avatar of Sneaky Pete actually has a skill that allows him/her to cause enemies to explode simply by turning and walking away from them, which sounded much cooler (and probably raises some questions regarding Pearl’s knowledge of the kingdom).

[bikeacrossloathing]

Casual reminder that Pearl is supposed to be an experienced adventurer who’s done all this crap before.

Also, for the record, Hot Wing Sauce is not to be confused with Devil’s Elbow Hot Sauce. The latter item can be acquired by mixing a hot wing with a scrumptious reagent (i.e., through Saucery). The former, at the time of this writing, can not actually be acquired by players, though it supposedly exists in-universe.

[bikeacrossloathing]

“We also found a stash of astral mushrooms and ‘DRINK ME’ potions, and got high as a kite.”

Hello! I’ve been away for a little while, in part because I’ve been working on working on a game (which you should totally check out because I said so). Did I mention that I don’t have a consistent update schedule for these comics?

Anyways, I’m back for now. I’ll probably output 2 or 3 more comics before jumping back into my hidey hole. We’ll see what happens.

EDIT: I’ve just been informed that you can’t actually farm for tangles of rat tails, because rat kings don’t spawn from the rat faucet. My bad.

[bikeacrossloathing]

I wanted to do an IotM-related comic for the Moon-rune spoon while it was still available in Mr. Store, but this was the best joke I could come up with, especially after having recently completed The Source. Then the cartoon harpoon was added, and the whole thing became completely ridiculous.

HARPOON TRANSLATIONS:

“Not looking for a spoon.“ “Let me see.“ “Dammit! There’s a hewn moon-rune spoon inside!“

[bikeacrossloathing]

Fancomic of Loathing #12 - Detuned Radio

I personally think that Degrassi Knoll has better aftercore benefits (especially free crafting). Also, the radio would have worked better for this gag than the mind-control device or the annoy-a-tron, largely because the radio is an item you can pick up and carry in your inventory, rather than a location you have to visit.

[bikeacrossloathing]

Fancomic of Loathing #11 - Typical Tavern Cellar

The amount of rats down there should constitute as a major health violation. Fortunately, no one in the kingdom seems to be remotely concerned with one’s physical health.

[bikeacrossloathing]

Fancomic of Loathing #10 - Mosquito Larvae

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Fancomic of Loathing #09 - Entire Shoplifter

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Fancomic of Loathing #08 - The Pharaoh

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Fancomic of Loathing #07 - The Noob

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Fancomic of Loathing #06 - The Cool One