History ComicStrip / HsuAndChan

* VaporWare: Back in 2004 when Norm released the ''Too Much Adventure'' collection, he commented that he was considering releasing a comic that contained a collection of the strips that have run in Electronic Gaming Monthly. 5 years later he seems to have made no effort to create such a book.

* DeliciousFruitPies: Employed in First Person, only the target was already giving up before the Tanakas made the offer. Also they were lying about having any Hostess products on hand.

* AllJustADream: The final comic in the Hsu and Chan 1up.com blog revealed that all the characters in the blog's comics were [[spoiler: robot duplicates.]]

-->'''Hsu:''' GOOD LORD! [[Magazine/ElectronicGamingMonthly This is the worst of the whole lot]]. A magazine so pathetically desperate for readers that they've stooped to the lowest common denominator imaginable -- [[ComicStrip/HsuAndChan A cartoon!]] We can only hope it's some kind of veiled eugenics experiment where the fans are singled out, rounded up, and- ''(Chan whispers to him)'' Oh! And get ice cream and otter-pops, the smart little dickens!

* {{Cameo}}: The first Halloween special features the cast of Norm's older comic, ''The Otters'' as trick or treaters. They return in the Patreon promotion comic claiming to be Batman and Spongebob in order to attract doners.

* HookHand: In the comic book series, Hsu's right hand was replaced with a prosthetic claw after losing the hand in a sword fight with their rivals at Yamamoto Games. [[ContinuityNod This carries over to the EGM comics and all of Hsu's appearances since]].
* IAmAHumanitarian: When discussing their survival plans for if the world were reduced to a post-apocalyptic nuclear wasteland, Hsu notes that he would pretty much immediately resort to cannibalism regardless of whatever food supplies he had. He also proceeds to go into disturbing amounts of detail on the subject of preparing human meat for consumption and speaks as though he actually wants a nuclear holocaust to happen so that he could consume human flesh without having to deal with the societal taboos associated with it.
* IdiotBall: In ''Horrors from Beyond the Rec Room'', Hsu, after preparing for disaster thanks to MediumAwareness (the text box guy was being smug again), immediately forgets the ominous foreshadowing when he learns that their living room sofa may be a gateway to Hell, sealed only by the cushions. Curiosity overcomes him and the gateway is opened. He did, however, prepare for the potential wrath of the demons for disturbing the gateway... [[AntiHero by offering the neighbor kid $5 to move the cushion for him and serve as a scapegoat.]]

* {{Mons}}: Since the initial purpose of their creation was to rip off Pokemon, the recurring characters Chernobyl and Gila Mobster, as well as the one-time characters Chiasaur, Uselessbug, Rock Lobster, Scangar, and Decapatops all qualify as mons.

* RefugeInAudacity: Rather frequent given how shameless the brothers' antics could get. For example, the main reason they hired Hanabi was because they were getting negative press from an unnamed writer at Polygon who claimed their company wasn't diverse (despite their claims that a team of 2 Asians and multiple non-humans probably makes them the most diverse) and figured they could spite said writer since he would be unable to complain about the blatant nepotism without comming across as a hypocrite for trying to get the newly hired female employee fired.

* [[SealedEvilInACan Sealed Evil In A Sofa]]: Apparently the previous owners of the Tanaka's house tested occult magic on the living room sofa. Because of this, the sofa acts as a gateway to Hell which is only kept sealed by the cushions (specifically the right one). When Hsu releases the demons out of curiosity, the brothers begin to seal all the demons in various trinkets that they were planning on selling in a yard sale and lock the objects in a closet [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin labeled "Evil".]]

*** In ''Review Back'' as they review the "Legitimate Gaming Press" who review their own games, the brothers take potshots at Game Pro for their use of cartooney Author Avatars. Hsu immediately follows this up by [[BitingTheHandHumor mocking EGM]] for [[TakeThatMe including an actual cartoon in the magazine]], but Chan quickly makes him reconsider.

* YouFailPhysicsForever: Subverted and lampshaded in ''Hsu and Chan #8'' during a scene where Chan and Gila Mobster are attempting to elude a pack of werewolves. Gila Mobster tells Chan to drive by several barrels full of gasoline and begins to shoot at them while they were driving past them, causing Chan to panic due to their proximity. However, rather than explode, the bullets simply put holes in the barrels causing the gasoline to leak from them. After witnessing this, Chan remarks:
-->'''Chan:''' If you can't trust video game physics, what can you trust, you know?

* WhyDoYouKeepChangingJobs: Addressed in ''VideoGame/FantasyLife Fantasy Ethic'' as Hsu tries to imagine the structure of the labor unions in the 3DS title, Fantasy Life, to allow anyone to switch careers in a moment's notice. The short then jumps to the game's Paladin Guildmaster questioning why one of his workers seemingly vanished while on guard duty.
-->'''Carlson:''' Yup... been a woodcutter for about 4 hours now. Been going pretty well... You're not mad are you?\\
'''Palidan Guildmaster:''' No... because now I'm a chef.

* YouSuck: Norm's views of the Tomb Raider games and movies which is reflected in the comics quite frequently.

** Later revisited in the animated short ''GTALERT!'', in which Hsu and Chan study the ''GrandTheftAuto'' series and its potential effects on the human psyche via Arnie (with restraints and regular cattle-prodding on him for safety). They learn that 1) Tennis is what triggers homicidal rage in gamers, and 2) They shouldn't go cheap on the restraints when Arnie escapes and holds them at gunpoint.

-->'''Hsu:''' GOOD LORD! [[Magazine/ElectronicGamingMonthly This is the worst of the whole lot]]. A magazine so pathetically desperate for readers that they've stooped to the lowest common denominator imaginable -- [[ComicStrip/HsuAndChan A cartoon!]]

* {{Mons}}: Since the initial purpose of their creation was to rip off Pokemon, the recurring characters Chernobyl and Gila Mobster, as well as the one time characters Chiasaur, Uselessbug, Rock Lobster, Scangar, and Decatops all qualify as mons.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Most notably, Jerk Sempkins, a very obvious parody of Jack Thompson.

In October 1999, a two-page comic appeared on the pages of ''Magazine/ElectronicGamingMonthly''. That comic, by [[Creator/NormanVonScott Jeremy "Norm" Scott]], continued to appear in the magazine for nine years, continued on a blog on 1Up.com, and even got eight issues and a compilation published by Slave Labor Graphics with a ninth issue announced. The comic follows the misadventures of the brothers Hsu and Chan Tanaka, two American video game designers of Japanese descent. They created a company called "Tanaka Bros. Game Development" that releases "top quality video games and occasional cheap knockoffs as the situation dictates." Together, the titular brothers have released such mildly enjoyable titles as ''Roller Death Derby'', ''Fist of the Mad Elf'', ''Lord of the Trousers: a Japanese dating sim'', and ''The Incredible Simulated Box Turtle'' (he poops!). Their misadventures usually show them trying to market their new game with humorous results, putting up with the antics of their non-human employees, and competing with their rivals at Yamomoto Games, known as the "[[OverlyNarrowSuperlative Most Evil Video Game Company in the world]]" (though there wasn't a lot of competition for that title). The comics are known for their style of humor and the wordiness of some issues, especially the Slave Labor comics.

After the EGM and 1UP series ended, Norm refocused the series on his website, Spookingtons Media. This included several new comics, a short lived series of newspaper comic style strips and, most recently, an animated series. In 2016, the series went on a long unannounced hiatus. However on December 8th, 2016, Norm launched a patreon. In less than a day, it's first two goals were met, promising a return to the monthly page long strips like the EGM run.

New episodes of Hsu and Chan, older strips, and some of Norm's other works [[http://www.spookingtons.com can be found here.]] The animated shorts, as well as Norm's other animations, sketches, and "Let's Not Play's" [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC-PAg2xMROwP6xq_jkc7tQ/videos can be found here]].

* GenreSavvy: A majority of the main cast.

* RefugeInAudacity: Rather frequent given how shameless the brothers' antics could get. For example, the main reason they hired Hanabe was because they were getting negative press from an unnamed writer at Polygon who claimed their company wasn't diverse (despite their claims that a team of 2 Asians and multiple non-humans probably makes them the most diverse) and figured they could spite said writer since he would be unable to complain about the blatant nepotism without comming across as a hypocrite for trying to get the newly hired female employee fired.

*** In ''Review Back'' as they review the "Legitimate Gaming Press" who review their own games, the brothers take potshots at Game Pro for their use of cartooney Author Avatars. The brothers immediately follow this up by [[BitingTheHandHumor mocking EGM]] for [[TakeThatMe including an actual cartoon in the magazine.]]

* TraumaButton: Due to his own related incident, Hsu is very uneasy at the sight of graphic damage to one's hands in media. He ends a playthrough of Resident Evil 7 early on when the main character's hands are stabbed and chopped off.

In October 1999, a two-page comic appeared on the pages of ''Magazine/ElectronicGamingMonthly''. That comic, by [[Creator/NormanVonScott Jeremy "Norm" Scott]], continued to appear in the magazine for nine years, continued on a blog on 1Up.com, and even got eight issues and a compilation published by Slave Labor Graphics with a ninth issue announced. The comic follows the misadventures of the brothers Hsu and Chan Tanaka, two American video game designers of Japanese descent. They created a company called "Tanaka Bros. Game Development" that releases "top quality games with the occasional rip-off." Together, the titular brothers have released such mildly enjoyable titles as ''Roller Death Derby'', ''Fist of the Mad Elf'', ''Lord of the Trousers: a Japanese dating sim'', and ''The Incredible Simulated Box Turtle'' (he poops!). Their misadventures usually show them trying to market their new game with humorous results, putting up with the antics of their non-human employees, and competing with their rivals at Yamomoto Games, known as the "[[OverlyNarrowSuperlative Most Evil Video Game Company in the world]]" (though there wasn't a lot of competition for that title). The comics are known for their style of humor and the wordiness of some issues, especially the Slave Labor comics.

*** In ''Review Back'' as they review the "Legitimate Gaming Press" who review their own games, the brothers take potshots at Game Pro for their use of cartooney Author Avatars. They follow this up by [[BitingTheHandHumor mocking EGM]] for [[TakeThatMe including an actual cartoon in the magazine.]]

*** In ''Review Back'' as they review the "Legitimate Gaming Press" who review their own games, the brothers take potshots at Game Pro for their use of cartooney Author Avatars.

* FollowTheLeader: A common part of their business strategy.
** In their E3 2017 issue, Yamomoto Games very blatantly copies the Tanaka's medieval tavern themed both at E3. They point out that they did this specifically to piss off the Tanaka's by invoking this since the game they were pushing used a cyberpunk setting.

*** In ''Review Back'' as they review the "Legitimate Gaming Press" who review their own games, the brothers take potshots at Game Pro for their use of cartooney Author Avatars in lieu of actual pictures of the editors.

** In the end commentary to the ''Too Much Adventure'' collection, Norm points out how he submitted the comic to ''EGM'', ''Game Pro'', and ''Tips and Tricks''. Apparently ''Gamepro'' was the only one of the three not to respond to Norm.

** In ''Hsu & Chan's Fall Preview-O-Rama!'' one of the desks in the EGM offices has a copy of ''Game Pro'' on it with the heading "Game news for infants!"

->''"Hello, video gamers!"''
-->-- ''Either of the eponymous brothers [[NoFourthWall greeting the reader]] at the beginning of almost every episode''

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* NotAllowedToGrowUp: Averted with the brothers' niece, Hanabi, who aged in real time from her birth up to age 16. Hsu suffers from an existential form of confusion when he notices this since both he and Chan play this trope straight and remained somewhere in their 30s for the whole run.