Funny Workplace Comic Strip CallBoyZ

Strip #38 A Murder Most Comic

2012-10-26T19:04:00.000-07:00

OH NO, CASEY! You'll have to wait for the answers. We are going on a short break to work on our first CallBoyZ book "CBZ Super Slackers." We will be promptly back Monday, December 3 to finish Season 1 and more!

Get the newest strip first by subscribing.

Gary Alan

Strip #37 Unproductive Koopas and Goombas

2012-10-24T06:27:00.001-07:00

Video games and productivity? See you on Friday for our last strip until we return Monday, December 3 as we take a break to work on our first book release now called CBZ "Super Slackers" (formerly "Call of the Weird"). You won't want to miss Strip #38!

Gary Alan

Strip #36 "Dead Woman Walking"

2012-10-22T04:41:00.000-07:00

CBZ AKA CallBoyZ will be on leave starting Monday, October 29 and return on Monday. December 3. We are preparing for our first book "Call of the Weird," collecting our Season 1 strips plus much more bonus content. We will finish the rest of Season 1 starting again on Monday, December 3, but come back this Wednesday and especially this Friday for a cliffhanger! Someone gets murdered, and
I think all the signs are pointing to...

Gary Alan

Strip #35 I Will Murder You On Halloween! XOXO

2012-10-19T21:59:00.000-07:00

The usual story structure of a murder mystery:

Dead body is found
An important clue is discovered
A suspect is named
More clues and suspects surface.
A gathering of suspects is called.
A flashback to the murder.
A murderer is revealed!

Yes, this post is a CLUE!

Gary Alan

Strip #34 Revenge of the Profile Pic That Says FRIEND ME!

2012-10-17T17:47:00.002-07:00

Where did Casey and Gordy head off to? The Call Center/BPO Summit 2012, of course! And a handy link to Strip #14. I hate to be rude but Casey does look like she gained weight. Maybe just a little???

Gary Alan

Strip #33 The Profile Pic That Says FRIEND ME!

2012-10-14T17:27:00.000-07:00

YES, your profile pic on social networking sites like Facebook say A LOT about you, and people often try to present a less than realistic BIG PICTURE of their current life. For instance, I still use pics from my Golden Age of the 1990's when I had more hair and actually got dressed to go out when really most of my time nowadays are spent writing at home in my underwear, a Freelancer cliche, I know.

With that in mind, if you notice someone change their profile pic a little too frequently, it means they are chronically insecure and use their profile pic as a way to compensate for their inadequacies.

Then there are those that get a bit too R-rated with their profile pics without needing to date first. These attention-seekers also lack self-esteem. It might be okay to have a random pic in your Speedos in your vacation album, but it is ill-advised as your profile pic, essentially your online presence even when liking Fan pages or commenting on your friends' posts. You really want your Aunt Fiona's friends to see that?!

But if its attention you want, it's attention you will get by exposing yourself at "Hello."

Gary Alan

Strip #32 The Nexus of Comic Strip Realities

2012-10-12T09:03:00.000-07:00

The GordoTel staff are all parodying well-known comic strip characters. Can you name WHO'S WHO? See you on Monday when we reboot the CallBoyZ Universe. As every comic mega event promises...Nothing will ever be the same again!

Gary Alan

Strip #31 Destroy All Sponges!

2012-10-10T18:44:00.000-07:00

A socially relevant commentary on workplace diversity the Dilbert/SpongeBob/Cthulhu/Jurassic Park way.

Gary Alan

Strip #30 Straw for One?

2012-10-08T00:30:00.000-07:00

Comic strip history can trace its roots as far back as the European Medieval Ages with the Bayuex Tapestry, a 230-foot cloth embroidered with colorful yarn that told the equally colorful yarn of the Norman conquest of England in over 50 sequential scenes with Latin captions. So it didn't actually end with a punch line in the last panel, but the Bayuex Tapestry is a historic predecessor to modern sequential story-telling otherwise known as comics.

Furthermore, while the newspaper comic strip format might be known for laughs in a few panels like Peanuts and Cathy, other strips tell an adventure/drama story like Little Orphan Annie or Rex Morgan M.D. The latter American soap opera-comic strip has run since 1948 with only a few attempts at modernization.

While the mostly comic book medium is dominated by superhero stories (a topic for another time) the daily newspaper comic strip format is dominated by humor. Subsequently, the Sunday comic pages of American newspapers, usually black and white during the rest of the week, are colloquially known as the “funny pages.”

Growing up in 1980s Southern California, my brother and I had the weekend tradition of Saturday Morning cartoons and Sunday Morning comics. While Saturday morning cartoons disappeared altogether with “Saved by the Bell” and TNBC (short for Teen NBC), a programming block of shows aimed at teens and young adults instead of children in the early 1990s, we are left with wonderful memories of “The Smurfs,” “Garfield,” “Scooby Doo” in several incarnations like “13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo,” and anyone remember , “The Snorks?”

Similar to the popular “The Smurfs,” this similarly-named under-the-sea cartoon was produced by cartoon great Hanna Barbera, originated in Belgium where “The Smurfs” came from too, and even aired on the same TV network NBC. Unfortunately, they weren’t as popular but still ran for 5 years.

As for the Sunday Morning comics tradition, I’m pondering what the webcomic version could be?

Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE! =)

Gary Alan

Strip #29 Phone Jockeys

2012-10-05T01:42:00.000-07:00

Phone Jockeys (from Urban Dictionary):

Definition:

A person whose job is to answer calls from customers of a small-to-large-sized company, usually from within a large contact center (aka call center). They are tethered to their desk all day via phone headset and yelled at countless times for things that aren't their fault. Because of this, phone jockeys usually hate their jobs. Fortunately for a phone jockey, they are are paid well enough that they keep working in the field until they completely burn out and hate everyone.

Usage:

The life of a phone jockey involves long hours chained to your desk and glued to your headset while many irate callers yell at you just because.

Poor Matty and Jacky. =(

Gary Alan

Strip #28 League of Super Slackers

2012-10-03T01:00:00.000-07:00

You can thank Hawaii for Casual Fridays in the workplace. In the late 1940s, Hawaiian lawmakers allowed office workers to wear Aloha shirts at least part of the year. By the 1960s, Aloha shirts were worn mostly on Fridays instead of the usual business wear. Hence, Hawaiian office workers celebrated “Aloha Fridays.”

In the 1970s, the rest of the country adopted casual attire Fridays largely supported by U.S. casual wear manufacturers who, of course, wanted to profit off even one day in a traditionally white collar shirt monopoly. Afterwards, Casual Fridays really took off during the Dot Com Bubble of the late 1990s where it matched the laid-back California business attire anyway.

Unfortunately, the GordoTel employees have made an error common among many corporate offices worldwide. “Casual Friday” is not “Anything Goes Day”—termed “Casual Friday Faux Pax.” On the other handin offices where the dress code is relaxed, they instead have the alliterative “Formal Fridays” and dress up at the end of the week.

Next post, the Babylonian Code of Hummarabi! Wiki it if you're curious.

Aloha!

Gary Alan

Strip #27 Mr. Destiny

2012-10-01T00:30:00.000-07:00

Local girls in Loire-Atlantique on the west coast of France to this day pierce the feet of poor Saint Winwaloe's (sometimes spelled Winwallus) statue with needles hoping to find their soulmates. He, of course, found his one and only in Saint Gwen Teirbron AKA "Gwen the Triple-Breasted." Gwen's third breast is interpreted by devotees as nothing less than a Gift from God. As a result, religious iconography of St. Gwen depicted her most unique physical attribute like in the statue below.

Awesome Gwen and Winwaloe found their soulmate. But what are soulmates exactly?

Plato spun an early "soulmate" legend that humans once had four arms, four legs, and two faces but Top God Zeus (Wonder Woman's daddy) feared their power so he split humans in half to what we are today. Since then, we go through life looking for the person that completes us. Sad, sad story.

Similarly, modern American psychic Edgar Cayce adds to Plato's story with the theory that souls are, in fact, made up of pairs that form a whole. Over several reincarnations, we seek our other half. That makes it sound a bit depressing that you can't find your soulmate now maybe through online dating websites or social media.

Maybe Casey and Jerry will have a better chance if Gordy found his own soulmate to find total and blissful completion with.

I guess I'll go microwave a dinner for one until my next life. ='(

Gary Alan

Strip #26 Mumbo Jumbo

2012-09-28T08:07:00.000-07:00

My first encounter with fortune-telling was the origami paper fortune teller. Do you remember those from childhood? Ask a question, specify a number or color, and your future literally unfolds. With the I Ching in app form on iPhone, I'm not sure if these paper prophets are now extinct in playgrounds.

Of course, there's always the Magic 8-Ball which even has a virtual online version!

Btw, this is Strip #26. It has been a long journey for Casey, Jerry, Carol, Zan, Jacky, and Matty since Strip #1. We pay homage to a teaser structure used in many of my favorite DC Comics written by Geoff Johns, including a recent Justice League (did you happen to hear Superman and Wonder Woman are doing it???).

What does the middle panel in today's CallBoyZ say about the future?

Well, you can be sure next week will show more of my love affair with DC Comics especially its many reboots.Maybe I will reboot CallBoyZ too. Remember to subscribe if you like CallBoyZ comics.

Gary Alan

Strip #25 Major Bling

2012-09-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

So it was all a Bobby Ewing Season 8 dream? You'd need to be a "Dallas" fan or lived through the '80s to get that pop TV reference. You can also hit Play below.

That sure was one long, detailed dream to encompass a whole year! Likewise, '80s sitcom "Newhart," where surreal was the standard, apparently had a series-long (1982-1990) dream too in which - oh, I won't spoil it. Press Play below. If you have never heard of Bob Newhart before now, he had another sitcom in the '70s.

IMO, BEST ENDING for a TV series EVER!

What was your favorite series finale ever and why?

Gary Alan

Strip #24 Call Center Wars Episode XXIV: A New Dope

2012-09-24T21:45:00.000-07:00

So is Carol Chewbacca or a cute lil Ewok?

Speaking of rip offs, I borrowed these cute lil Ewok FUN FACTS from ShareTV and TV.com (rewritten, of course):

Throughout the Ewoks animated series, the Ewoks often say "Dengar." It is actually the name of one of the bounty hunters after Han Solo in "Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back"
C-3PO or a C-3PO lookalike makes a cameo appearance in the Ewok animated series Season 2 episode "Battle for the Sunstar" as a droid about to be scrapped (watch it below).
"Battle for the Sunstar" seems to be set before the Ewok TV movies and the "Revenge of the Jedi." If you notice, the Empire doesn't know about the Ewoks yet.

Just in case, Carol is in a Chewbacca/Wookie costume, here's a FUN FACT: Chewy's first historical appearance is the "Star Wars" series is not in the first movie. You can catch him in the prequel "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith," which is set 19 years before Episode IV (the first movie if you're keeping track).

On a personal note, we are coming up on Strip #25. If you enjoy CallBoyZ (we call it "CBZ Comics" to sound hip and to avoid an embarassing misunderstanding), please be sure to subscribe by RSS or get our comic by email (scroll to the very bottom for the quick form).

Thank you for your continuing support!

Gary Alan

Strip #23 Wrongful Terminator 3

2012-09-21T23:24:00.000-07:00

Machines gone mad in media is a long, entertaining list. Here’s three I find personally memorable:

You have the Skynet A.I. network of the “Terminator” franchise with its unstoppable goal of the human race’s extinction.
Then there’s Hal 9000 (short for Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer) from Arthur C. Clarke’s “Space Odyssey” series. Fun fact – if you shift HAL by one letter, you get IBM, the granddaddy of computing with roots as far back as the 1880s.
Finally, My childhood memories also include VINCENT (short for Vital Information Necessary CENTralized) from Disney’s movie “Blackhole.” He made an impression in this future Sci Fi wannabe before even “Star Trek” in that he horrifically transformed a human crew into mindless, killing cyborgs.

Oh, and KIP (sort of short for Key Performance Index) has begun his reign of office terror not involving your boss. Who will survive? Back on Monday!

Any additions, applause, and admiration for other murderous sentient machines from media to include in this list?

Comment. Comment. Comment.

Gary Alan

Strip #22 Harry Poker & the Brain Strain Drain

2012-09-19T11:22:00.000-07:00

While CallBoyZ is obviously set in the Call Center industry, we try to honestly tackle real workplace problems universal to all industries. I'm sure you can tell from our plotlines involving evil sentient computers, magical counselors fighting Brain Strain Drain, and company jets hijacked for romantic whims to Paris. And of course, Eiffel Tower headsets, which I actually did not make up.

Does your work really get so repetitive it strains and drains your brain and causes you to call in sick chronically?

As for me, I am restricted to 3 comic strip panels, 3 times a week, and gets read by only 3 die-hard fans. Kinda repetitive. Sigh.

Well, here's something new! If you liked today's comic strip, make sure to subscribe to CallBoyZ RSS to always get the latest strip. You can also access our past strips via Blog Archive in the footer as well as our most popular strips.

Gary Alan

Strip #21 Cybermance

2012-09-17T03:39:00.000-07:00

Casey and Kip seem to be hitting it off especially with Gordy out of the picture pursuing country music stardom and Jerry just returning from getting his “macho” reattached accompanied by fellow fainter, Zan.

Although still a cyber romance in that Kip is a machine (the "cyber") and Casey is an open-minded human, cyber romances typically involve two humans in an intimate relationship over the Internet regardless whether or not they already have a “in real life” (IRL) relationship. Many are attracted to the mystery of being in a romance with someone they never met face-to-face while others find it fills something they are missing in their IRL relationship.

Actually, cyber romances only make you think you are finally getting something you are missing because until it becomes an IRL romance, it remains a fantasy much like the MMORPG you might be playing. Yes, we've heard a lot of cyber romances happen over MMORPGs. Then again MMORPG can likewise strengthen a relationships because “the couple that plays together stays together.”

Although the computer monitor might be the window to the soul nowadays, physical contact is still a necessity in relationships. Therefore, if you are only getting affection in virtual form, you are still missing a great deal.

On the other hand, online dating is a different matter entirely that starts online but usually require follow-up face-to-face dates if taken seriously. Sure, you can keep it online, but most members of online dating services pay a subscription fee expect a date. Even so, some startling not too honest facts about online dating can leave you wondering:

81% of online dating site members admit to lying about their age, height, and weight in their online profiles.
Couples who meet online wait an average of a year and 6.5 months before getting married compared to those who meet offline first who wait at least 3 years and a half before tying the knot.
50% of online “blind” daters research their date before actually meeting

On a positive note, Internet users are usually in relationship (72%) while non-users (36%) are not. Therefore, as a reader of our webcomic (exclusive online), you are probably already in a relationship and if not, will be in one soon.

Are you in the lucky 72% Percentile of Love?

Gary Alan
Twitter: @garya1an

Strip #20 French Bread! French Connection UK! French Kisses!

2012-09-14T20:06:00.000-07:00

Surreal humor, which we pay homage to in this 20th installment of the CallBoyZ comic strip, is based on unpredictability and a violation of reason.

Researching how to portray surreal humor in today’s strip, I needed to hit these conditions in three panels:
Bizarre concepts paired or juxtapositions
Non-sequitur or illogical chain of events
Irrational story
Nonsense

I failed by revealing all of today’s absurd situations as Carol’s dream due to her Eiffel Tower headset.

I should have gone instead with Casey’s new boyfriend, Kip, creating a holographic illusion of the City of Romance in the office and messing with everybody’s heads to break Cordy apart. What about Gordo, Inc. experimenting on their own employees with a hallucinogenic in the water cooler (too realistic?).

Yes, ridiculous and unlikely in Monty Python-esque surreal sort of way. Happy Strip #20!

Gary Alan

Strip #19 Give Me Some A.I. Love

2012-09-12T08:08:00.000-07:00

A new subplot involving Key Performance Index (Kip) who we met a strip or so ago and Casey.
Artificial Intelligence is concerned with finding a way for computers to behave like humans. However, by the very term "artificial," AI only copies human intelligence not act of its own free will.

Star Trek: TNG's Data needed an emotion chip to experience emotions. However, a full-on nervous system might be needed to copy human emotion as easily as computers fake intelligence (they are actually not sentient like you just smarter than you), because although a computer program can simulate tears and a smile, there is actually no feeling without nerves to send sensations back to the brain.

Feelings such as love and hate are, in the end, tactile. As my favorite musical episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" declares, "Once more with feeling!"

Anyone (except "Kip") feel sympathy for poor, misunderstood Casey who was blasting Carol for taking an extra 2 seconds during break?

Gary Alan

Strip #18 To Pee or Not to Pee? Dat is da Question!

2012-09-10T01:51:00.000-07:00

After having to sit through an extra hour after school errr work with “something up her @$$” Miss Kontrabida, Carol decided to start prioritizing her needs—smoke or pee? How to spend the measly 5 minutes every hour?

Well, she can smoke in the bathroom and enjoy the best of both worlds only she’d have to disable the smoke alarm Casey had installed in the bathroom.
She can take a cup outside to pee while she smokes with Zan and the gang. Gross...maybe.
She can stop drinking liquids so she no longer has to pee…ever. She’d probably risk dehydration. Then again, she heard on the Discovery Channel that the human body can go without water for 8-10 days.
She could quit smoking so her breaks would be exclusively for peeing. Nicotine withdrawal for a whole hour would surely kill her fast!
What if she equally divided the 5 minutes? 2 minutes smoke, 2 minutes pee, and 1 minute travel time.

Tips appreciated, including of the monetary variety. Hey, need to buy a stopwatch!

Gary Alan

Strip #17 Hey, Baby, What's Your KPI?

2012-09-07T18:31:00.000-07:00

Unless I think of something clever to say that beats my exhaustion right now...see you next Monday!

Gary Alan

Strip #16 Hip With Homosexuals

2012-09-05T18:17:00.000-07:00

I guess another CallBoyZ gets "unmachoed." Sad trend.

I had a family emergency this week so I'm short on the sermons Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

Enjoy the strip!

Gary Alan

Strip #15 The Un-Machoing of Jerry

2012-09-03T03:12:00.000-07:00

Pizza again?! =) Sorry, I'm late. Long story.

Gary Alan

Strip #14 Pineapple on Pizza. Is It Just Wrong?

2012-08-31T02:46:00.000-07:00

How can adding ham and pineapple bits to the cheese and tomato sauce foundation of pizza stir so much controversy worldwide probably except in Australia where 15% of pizza sales are Hawaiian pizzas, making it the undisputed champ down under (but according to the restaurant editor of the Honolulu Star Bulletin, not so popular in Hawaii).

Some folks fervently believe that fruit on pizza is blasphemy stating that “If God meant for pineapple to be on pizza, Italians would have originated from Hawaii." On the other hand, another group claims tomato is a fruit, and it happens to be, in sauce form, one of the traditional foundations of pizza.

I always thought tomato was a vegetable. That's why it goes so great in a salad with lettuce and ranch dressing. Actually, tomato is scientifically classified as a berry so we were all wrong. Then again, a berry is a fruit like grapes, bananas, pumpkins, watermelons, strawberries (DUH), and my favorite, coffee (wait, I thought coffee was a bean).

Therefore, if tomato, a fruit too, can be on pizza (and a requirement in most cases) so, logically, can pineapple. What’s more, a fig, yet another fruit, is a popular topping in Rome from where pizza, of course, comes from.Ironically, the first pizzas were historically sweet rather than savory. So what's the big deal? When in Rome, after all.

Personally, I’m not a fan of pineapple on pizza. I pick mine off my usual veggie pizza since not everyone has been informed pineapple is a fruit not a veggie. SIGH!

Oh, and the French? Lovers of pizza too! In fact, Marie Antionette's own sister, married to an Italian, had ovens constructed in the wild so she could have pizza while the Royal Hunting Party ate duck and boar. Smart girl!

Gary Alan

P.S. If you ever wondered why some variations of Hawaiian pizza involves Canadian bacon (probably the only variation I tolerate), Hawaiian pizza originates from Canada. Sam Panopoulos, owner of the Family Circle Restaurant in Chatham, Ontario, was the first to make Hawaiian pizza in 1962. A tropical vacation in every slice?