Official Portal 2 Comic Reveals Truth About Cake

[Shirokurou]

Then I'm afraid you entirely missed the point of Portal.

If you look deeper into the Portal world, you'll find that the clean and cutesy is a cover up for the twisted darkness that it's really set in. It's creepy, psycological and dark, and the comic did an excellent job at portraying the insanity, greatly assisted by the wild artwork.

I'm afraid you missed the stylistics of Portal.
The shift is built around the sterile clean "test chammbers" and the later contrast to the rusty inner-workings. Key words here: contrast.
It should be 97% clean and 3% pure accented and exaggerated insanity...
Also, CRAPPY artwork does not equal portraying insanity, it's just sloppy. Atsushi Okubo does a great work of fleshing out insanity in his Soul Eater manga with accents, eerie expressions and only rarely a complete Meltdown of art, which looks crazy cause it contrasts with the previously established "normal" artwork.

So this is just BAD artwork. Again, IMHO. And that coming from a guy who grew on Ashley Wood.

 

[rex95o]

"We put cameras inside the cameras, he'll never suspect it" "Genius!" LOL XD

 

[rex95o]

"We put cameras in the cameras, he'll never suspect it" "Genius!" LOL XD

 

[rex95o]

oops srry bout the double post D:

 

[TimeLord]

Hmmm...as far as portal 2 goes, I would love to play it. I dont think it's worth the sixty dollar price tag, tho. GRgh, I may just watch a playthrough on youtube and save some money.

$60?
WOW you yanks are unlucky, £32 here in the UK

£27 for me

OT: Assuming I remember about it when it is released, I might look into it

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

Can someone tell me why "the cake" is such a mystery? It was clearly shown at the end of Portal. You got the cake. It wasn't a lie. It was resolved. What's the mystery?

Remember that this is set in the same dystopian science-fiction future world that Half-Life is - as such, the mystery is not so much about cake itself, but how the science behind GLaDOS fucked up on such an immense scale.

You know, reading through all these comments, I think a lot of people missed some of the point to Portal. It wasn't about completing tests for cake, or even really about portals themselves. It was a character study between two very unique protagonists, and delving deeper into that can't possibly be considered tacky or bad, can it? There's a mystery worth solving, and it isn't about fucking cake.

 

[callmegreen]

The art work is BEARABLE Not as bad as the water coloured uninked mess that was dying inside&dead/alive but when ratman opened his mouth i thought ZOMFG ART ATTACK!!!!

 

[imnot]

Hmmm...as far as portal 2 goes, I would love to play it. I dont think it's worth the sixty dollar price tag, tho. GRgh, I may just watch a playthrough on youtube and save some money.

$60?
WOW you yanks are unlucky, £32 here in the UK

And those pictures, however good they are are going to give me nighmarers for months.

Retailers in Australia have it for $110 AUS on consoles and $80 AUS on PC. Which is why I went 'screw you' and pre purchased for $45 on Steam. Fortuneately Valve don't pull the bullshit that games are priced differently based on region.

Please tell me that AUS $ are worth less than US $?

Indeed no! Australia dollars are worth fractionally MORE than US dollars (about 1.04 USD currently). It's just that australian retails are GIGANTIC DOUCHEBAGS who think australian consumers are too fucking stupid to realise that a price which was reasonable when 1AUD=.8USD is not reasonable now.

Oh, and they like to whine like little bitches about how unfair it is that online stores are forcing them out of business and that they cannot compete.

And so, most sane people - especially when buying a game from valve - buy it via steam, or off amazon UK or US or similar. The later two especially when buying a game from the douchenozzles who try to sell games on steam at massively inflated prices, now that steam doesn't let you just claim to be in a different country.

Wow Austalian retailers sound like massive twats!

Hmmm...as far as portal 2 goes, I would love to play it. I dont think it's worth the sixty dollar price tag, tho. GRgh, I may just watch a playthrough on youtube and save some money.

$60?
WOW you yanks are unlucky, £32 here in the UK

And those pictures, however good they are are going to give me nighmarers for months.

Is it cheaper if you pre-order it?

I belive that is the pre order price, normaly it would be aroun £40 or so

 

[Jordi]

Can someone tell me why "the cake" is such a mystery? It was clearly shown at the end of Portal. You got the cake. It wasn't a lie. It was resolved. What's the mystery?

Remember that this is set in the same dystopian science-fiction future world that Half-Life is - as such, the mystery is not so much about cake itself, but how the science behind GLaDOS fucked up on such an immense scale.

You know, reading through all these comments, I think a lot of people missed some of the point to Portal. It wasn't about completing tests for cake, or even really about portals themselves. It was a character study between two very unique protagonists, and delving deeper into that can't possibly be considered tacky or bad, can it? There's a mystery worth solving, and it isn't about fucking cake.

I really didn't meant to say that I didn't think the comic was going to be awesome, but the cake mystery features pretty heavily in the announcing post. You might even say that it is being advertised as the main feature of the comic, as the opening tagline says this:

Valve has created an official Portal 2 comic to expand on a mystery character and possibly reveal if the cake was really a lie.

And then later:

Most incredibly, the Portal 2 comic may finally reveal the truth about that damned Portal cake that nobody will ever stop talking about, though it might not be easy to find. Oeming says: "Yes, we hid the truth about cake pretty deep in the story. If anyone finds it, be sure to go out and have some fun, it means you have too much time on your hands!"

So apparently it is (amongst other things) about fucking cake, and I don't understand why, because it seemed to me like the "the cake is a lie"-myth was pretty thoroughly dispelled in the game when you got the cake. So I ask: what is it about the cake that is still a mystery?

I may very well have missed the point in Portal. For instance, I have no idea what you mean by "a character study between two very unique protagonists". I don't even know who you mean by the two protagonists. GLadOS and the player? I don't know what is "very unique" about the player character, because we know absolutely nothing about her.

The way I interpreted the story was that the player just wanted to get the fuck out of the facility (to freedom) and that she didn't care about GLaDOS or the cake one bit. GLaDOS on the other hand is an AI that was programmed to do science (or test Aperture's creations or whatever). She probably wasn't meant to want to do this at all costs, but something went wrong and that is how it turned out. She wants the player to complete all of the trials/tests/levels, because it will somehow help with her science. Everything she says is meant to further that goal, so she says things that she thinks will persuade the player to do what she wants. Promising cake is one of those things, because apparently GLaDOS thinks that cake is what motivates people.

That is what I got out of it, but I would be interested in hearing other people's views (and especially why the cake is considered such a mystery).

 

[Vault101]

It's not like it's supposed to show off that the character's point of view is distorted or anything... IT'S ART FOR ART'S SAKE, OBVIOUSLY!

It's an art style. What the hell is wrong with using an art style? It fits, doesn't it?

I've got nothing against the idea that it is meant to be an artistic decision, hell, I'm all for creativity in the presentation of narrative, etc.

But I think that the style is a tad bit ugly, confusing, and overall detrimental to what they want to show. I like my comics to have the standard linear panel format, so I can deduct exactly what is going on, without being confused or baffled by what they're trying to show me by having to skirt to a certain part of the page. And I was told as a little boy always to colour within the lines. I hate it that I got smacked by doing what this guy is making.

Yes, yes, I hold petty grudges and I like things to be boringly straight and linear. Sue me.

other than being subjective its SUPOSED to be all confusing, its got all kinds of hidden stuff in it to keep us guessing and I think it looks awsome

but yeah you dont like it, not the end of the world nad no one can change that

anyway Im really happy they are expanding on things, Not knowing does get a little annoying

anyway I think that binary code on Chells case file spells out "the cake is a lie"...yeah great

 

[Outright Villainy]

It's not like it's supposed to show off that the character's point of view is distorted or anything... IT'S ART FOR ART'S SAKE, OBVIOUSLY!

It's an art style. What the hell is wrong with using an art style? It fits, doesn't it?

I've got nothing against the idea that it is meant to be an artistic decision, hell, I'm all for creativity in the presentation of narrative, etc.

But I think that the style is a tad bit ugly, confusing, and overall detrimental to what they want to show. I like my comics to have the standard linear panel format, so I can deduct exactly what is going on, without being confused or baffled by what they're trying to show me by having to skirt to a certain part of the page. And I was told as a little boy always to colour within the lines. I hate it that I got smacked by doing what this guy is making.

Yes, yes, I hold petty grudges and I like things to be boringly straight and linear. Sue me.

Hrmm. Take all your points, then use them, verbatim as the reasons I like the art style.

 

[ScoopMeister]

THE CAKE IS A LIE!

 

[Yokai]

Nice. Everything Oeming's done for Valve has been great.

As for the art style, I suppose it could have been mishandled and become chaotic and unreadable, but it didn't. Some artists are quite capable of looking like they're making a mess while actually making use of every line. Ben Templesmith comes to mind. It really works in this case.

 

[Nmil-ek]

That was utterly horrifying.

 

[Nmil-ek]

Edit: Bleh double post delete if you wish.

 

[legendp]

I can understand them trying to be creative and mysterious wich I like. But comic books? I hate how they pull this trick. why can't they just give a 2 minute video prelude (animated not comic) at the beginning of portal 2 explaining it. if I am going to read I would prefer a well written novel. I like the art style in halo but not borderlands if that gives people an idea of were I stand.

 

[TerribleAssassin]

Hmmm...as far as portal 2 goes, I would love to play it. I dont think it's worth the sixty dollar price tag, tho. GRgh, I may just watch a playthrough on youtube and save some money.

Sixty dollars?

I only paid £27 for my pre-order. That's about 44$.

Same, and I have a 3rd copy of Portal 1 :|

And the art style really fits, I'd love to read it, but it's probably not coming over the pond...

 

[brodie21]

was the artist trying to draw this in a car on a bumpy road?

 

[internetzealot1]

Doug Rattman
Rattman
Ratt man
Rat Man

Subtle, Valve.

 

[MaxwellEdison]

Can someone tell me why "the cake" is such a mystery? It was clearly shown at the end of Portal. You got the cake. It wasn't a lie. It was resolved. What's the mystery?

Remember that this is set in the same dystopian science-fiction future world that Half-Life is - as such, the mystery is not so much about cake itself, but how the science behind GLaDOS fucked up on such an immense scale.

You know, reading through all these comments, I think a lot of people missed some of the point to Portal. It wasn't about completing tests for cake, or even really about portals themselves. It was a character study between two very unique protagonists, and delving deeper into that can't possibly be considered tacky or bad, can it? There's a mystery worth solving, and it isn't about fucking cake.

THIS. A THOUSAND TIMES THIS.