arts // no. 8 The new age of adult animation > New tropes for a new generation Mercedes Deutscher Social Media Coordinator p until the last eight years, adult comedy was more or less the same. I’m sure at some point over their life, everyone has seen an episode of The Simpsons, Futurama, Family Guy, American Dad, or South Park. These titles shared similar tropes—they starred buffoon characters with little concern on how their actions affected the people around them. Hell, Seth McFarlane put out three shows with the exact same story (idiot dad, attractive wife, misunderstood older daughter, naive son, diabolical baby/fish, sharp-witted creature of some sort). Two of them are still airing. These series focused on topical issues of the time in the name of social commentary. Some shows occasionally have even done a good job of it. Family Guy once had a great take on atheism. Same with King of the Hill and voting. South Park has hit the nail on the head countless times. But for countless other episodes, time has not been kind to these episodes as they fade into irrelevancy. So where do newer titles fit in to the adult animation spectrum? Rick and Morty. BoJack Horseman. Archer. Fis for Family. Bob’s Burgers. These are all animated series intended for mature audiences. They have all been released since 2009. They have all accrued a large and growing fan base. These titles are challenging the way we view adult animated comedy and break the tropes that we've grown to expect from the genre. For one, some of these shows tackle different stories completely. Archer is set in a controversial spy agency and Bojack Horseman is set in celebrity culture. Others build on the settings that have already been used. Rick and Morty combines the family trope with sci-fi. Bobs Burgers features a family business run by a family that is actually fairly functional. F is for Family takes place in the ’7os and criticizes the past in an entertaining way. The characterization in these newer shows is fantastic. Time seemingly moves forward. People have real aspirations and don’t remain static in time. You see actual development that lasts. Gone is the cookie-cutter housewife. Instead we have strong women. We have badass working moms in environments where men tease or discourage their work. They are smart, socially conscious, and unafraid to stand their ground. Women who are afraid, nervous, outrageous, and even diabolical. Male characters are written with more depth. Rick Sanchez is a genius, even if his intelligence comes at the expense of his morality. Fathers who sometimes make the wrong choices, but ultimately want the best for their family. BoJack and Archer are assholes, but not without reason—they are flawed characters with complicated childhoods and access to pretty much anything they want. While past shows seemed to cater to the lowest common denominator, newer shows tend to balance ridiculous comedy with heavy themes. They still touch on social commentary, but with more range than in the past. Depression and hopelessness are common themes, theotherpress.ca and it resonates hard with millennial audiences who often feel the same. These shows tackle sexism, racism, abuse, and countless other issues on a consistent basis. They also don’t make a huge deal out of topics that were previously considered taboo. Audiences no longer need silly families or groups to laugh at. They need someone who feels the same as they do. What was missing was the aspect of what makes us all human. We relate to an anthropomorphic horse and a wild scientist because they remind us of ourselves. Maybe it’s not always in the best ways, but these traits are traits shared—and it hits hard. Chairman of the Board: I hope you can swim > ‘Survive: Escape from Atlantis’ board game review Ed Appleby Contributor kkk hat is it with board games and sinking islands? Survive: Escape from Atlantis! (2011) is a grid-based adventure game for two to four people designed by Julian Courtland- Smith and published by Stronghold Games. In the game, players attempt to save their coloured meeples, which are secretly scored from one to six points, by getting them off of an island that is slowly sinking by either swimming or taking a boat. Meeples are vulnerable to sharks, whales, and sea monsters that other players may use to destroy fellow players’ pieces. The player who saves the highest point value of their people at the end of the game wins. The game was originally released as just Survive in 1982, and in 20u1 it was merged with another game Escape from Atlantis (1986). The two games had similar grids and gameplay, with only some minor differences in the rules. The newest release combined the two games favouring the Survive rules, but still has the ability to be played with the Escape rules too. As far as I can tell this is the only case I can find of two games being combined like this, barring homebrew mashups like Zombies: Mall Madness or Telestrations against Humanity. Unlike a lot of other sinking island games, Survive is a lot more competitive and requires a little more strategy. Though the play is simple it’s going to take some serious moves in order to win, including saving other players pieces in order to win them to your side. This gives the game a more interactive element on all turns. All in all, I found the game okay. The game mechanics are fun and engaging with a lot of strategy and psychology, but nothing about it really jumped out at me. Image via Fox Broadcasting Network > 2 wv a 2 2 < 2 p o £ s h =