Updates Every Friday
Look, okay, here's the deal. I've been wracking my brain trying to explain exactly what's going on here while being somewhat amusing at the same time, but I can just barely do it. Team Pocket is a kinda hybrid superhero/adventure/comedy comic seen through the eyes of what I like to call a 'Notebook Paper Comic.' That is, it's the kind of comic that was drawn in the back of notebooks in the middle of sixth grade social studies class, the kind of comic passed between friends at the lunch table, the kind of comic that featured not-very-good-really-kind-of-terrible art, writing to match, and was packed with injokes and references to classmates, teachers and friends that no one on the outside could ever appreciate. You'll remember what I'm talking about, or, even if you have no personal experience with it, I'm sure you can imagine what they're like.
Team Pocket was my Notebook Paper Comic. Well, ONE of my Notebook Paper comics. Although it didn't involve anyone from the Real World (all of my friend's comics took care of that rather well,) it featured heaping amounts of whatever it was preteen boys found fucking awesome. That is, violence, badasses, swearing, and madcap humor, all done with this adorable sort of immaturity and naiveity. When I created it, I did it because I wanted to make my own version of Steve Purcell's excellent series, Sam & Max: Freelance Police. The result, which you can see in its entirety as the first entry of Team Pocket Comics, is something I still love today. I think it holds up pretty well myself, even if it's nowhere near the glory of Sam & Max.
But the point of these comics was never to be good, was it? The point was only to be entertaining. There's something fresh and honest about it when you look at it that way. They were the raw offspring of the violent creativity of adolescence, and so many kids did it! They all pulled from the same resources: cool tv shows, video games, comic books, jokes between friends, ridiculous movies. Nothing has changed over the years either. Notebook Paper comics are still made today. They will always be made. They're Outsider comics, but everyone knows about them!
Team Pocket returns to life in celebration of Notebook Paper comics. It is a violent, bloody, irreverent, and hilarious love letter to a special brand of creativity that only comes around once in a lifetime. I hope you're not too grown up to enjoy it.
-- Josh Grabiec