Muddled is a new web comic written by game developer Matthew Dunne with artwork from Animation graduate, Simon Fay.

According to artist Simon the comic came about because, "The writer Matthew was tired of his friends ignoring his moaning so he decided to inflict it on the world in the form of a comic."

In the short space of time the comic has been going, the artist and writer have come upon a voice and a look that is all their own. Fay has come up with a way to use lights and colour and simple shapes to convey the environment the characters are in and it keeps the pace of the cartoons going along nicely. The artwork is fresh and not hampered by boring backgrounds and this lets the writing flow quickly.

The artwork is fast and simple. It is a style that Fay came up with during the making of a student film while he studied Animation in Ballyfermot in Dublin. Necessity dictated the style as there wasn't much time to make the film. It is a style the artist likes to call "fast and pretty."

The stories are partly biographical as the characters are all based on themselves or people the artist and writer both know. This keeps the strip grounded in a reality of sorts and makes it observational humour rather than pure fantasy. It's humour based on the more depressing things in Matthew's life and his quirky sense of joy.

The comic comes complete with author and artist's notes on each comic, which gives an insight into the creative process and the thinking behind each strip.

Click to enlarge

Check it: www.muddledcomic.com