Communication Media Comic (shortened to Commedia, a reference to the renaissance play Commedia dell'Arte) work-in-progress webcomic made by Master Jay AM, who happened to be a mass communications major, the series focuses on the Anthropomorphic Personifications of media channels, drawing story lines and gags from the history of the media and the real-life relationships and issues faced by media practitioners today. A series with over 30 characters representing a media format or an associated technology or industry. A partial list is available here.
The pitch emerged on mid-2010 as an edutainment series of single-shot cartoons and comics. Much of the original sketches were finished between September and October. The comic itself along with a considerable amount of sketches is posted on DeviantArt. Segments of the comic are published on Tumblr.
Its premise is loosely inspired by Hetalia: Axis Powers and other similar comics. It is heavily influenced by the author's own time spent at TV Tropes. The author wanted to give Anthropomorphic Personifications a shot and looked for one that the people at DeviantArt haven't already tried.
The media formats featured in the comics so far include the following, sorted according to the technologies involved.Such relations are interpreted to mean familial relationships through blood, adoption, or marriage.
- The Prints: Literature, Mail, Print Journalism and Periodical Publishing/Journalism, Comics, Magazine Publishing, Printmaking, Writing
- The Audio-Visuals: Television, Video, Recording Industry, Music Video, Satellite Communications, Cable
- The Films: Cinema, Photography, Animation
- The Digitals: Internet, Computer Technology, Arpanet, Podcast and Mobile, Intranet, Video Games, Satellite Communications
- The Telegraphs: Telegraphy, Telecommunications, Radio, Internet
- The Spatials: Art, Music, Comics, Animation, Cartography, Graphic Design, Dance
- Theatre and Puppetry
- The Motives: Advertising, Propaganda, Public Relations
- Tabletop Games
As seen previously, there's an overlap with some media formats and technologies that can fit more than two categories.
Many more characters may come as the comic progresses.
It can be found here. The majority of the tropes present are available on the profiles and sketches. Now has a WIP character sheet.
Not to be confused with a certain other Commedia.
This series contains examples of:
- Art Evolution: The comic took on a less sketchy format c. 2016.
- Always Someone Better: A recurring theme is this, and its occasional subversion.
- Big Brother Mentor: Many of the older media channels tend to be this toward younger media channels, particularly siblings.
- Television and Video are said to be inseparable.
- Literature is this to Journalism, but not so much to his other siblings.
- Executive Meddling: The source of many gags in this series. TV tends to show this the most.
- Generation Xerox: Literature and his son, Comics, look remarkably alike. Telegraphy and Internet also qualify to an extent.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: All of the characters will end up with jerkass moments. Thus, many of them would fit this trope.
- New Media Are Evil: Internet, who is basically acts like a troll.
- No Fourth Wall: Internet gives the artist an earful for being a sloppy artist; on the first page, no less.
- Old Media Are Evil: A recurring theme, although they qualify more like "old media are jerkasses" more than anything.
- Older Than They Look: Most of the media channels invented prior to the 19th Century have this. Comic is an egregious offender; he looks like an Emo Teen, but is physically in his 20s and is older than Television.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: There are blood siblings in this series of media channels that share a common history or technology. Therefore, their differences are Truth in Television:
- The Film Siblings (Cinema and Photography); one likes movement, the other stillness. Although they're amicable, they're not close.
- The Prints (Literature and Print Journalism) are a more amiable pair of brothers. One is sedentary, the other adventurous.
- Magazine and Print Journalism have a Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling dynamic.
- Internet and Intranet. The former is an extroverted Jerkass and the other is a shut-in.
- Shout-Out: Given the nature of the series, this will more or less be inevitable.
- Take That!: Quite a bit really. Mainly toward Executive Meddling and other media pet peeves.
- Visual Pun: Internet is kept at bay by a firewall.