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Concerned: The Half-Life and Death of Gordon Frohman
Gordon Frohman arriving in City 17, as Doctor Breen (center) broadcasts to the masses.
Author(s)Christopher C. Livingston
Websitehttp://www.hlcomic.com/
Current status/scheduleUpdates Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
Launch dateMay 1, 2005
Genre(s)Video game, humor

Concerned: The Half-Life and Death of Gordon Frohman is a webcomic by Christopher C. Livingston, parodying the popular first-person shooter computer game Half-Life 2. The comic is constructed from game screenshots, with characters posed using Garry's Mod. There are three new issues every week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday).

Plot

Template:Spoilers

In Half-Life 2, the player takes on the role of Gordon Freeman. Throughout the game, the player follows the story of a dark, dystopian future in which mankind has been invaded by the Combine, a mysterious alien enemy.

File:Gordon Frohman.jpg
Frohman up close. He also appears wearing the rebel outfit worn by Resistance soldiers.

In contrast, Concerned follows the same general path through the story established by Half-Life 2, but instead follows the adventures of Gordon Frohman, a hapless, lethally clumsy oaf who arrives in City 17 a few weeks before Freeman. Frohman is incredibly naïve and, unlike the other citizens, seems to enjoy living under the rule of the totalitarian administrator, Doctor Breen and the Combine. He holds an insane reverence for the latter, even going to the point of having a plush doll of a Combine soldier and willingly going to Nova Prospekt for invasive surgery to join the Overwatch. Indeed (as happened in Ravenholm) he finds it hard to cope without their omnipresence, and goes to the lengths of building his own Citadel out of crates, a telescreen for watching Breencasts and an apparently fully functional Strider (although he never turns it on).

Frohman, accompanied by several "bugbait"-controlled Antlions, eventually reaches Nova Prospekt, only to be turned away as he did not have an appointment[1]. Frohman gives up and returns to City 17 in the following strip, content of the city's provisions, as Gordon Freeman finally arrives in the city, linking the comic's timeframe with the start of Half-Life 2.

File:Gordon Frohman as Medic.jpg
Gordon Frohman dressed up as a medic in strip #165

At present, the comic is currently within Half-Life 2's timeframe, with Freeman battling through City 17 during the Resistance's uprising; Frohman has been recruited into the human Resistance (handled by Barney Calhoun), in which Frohman (to his dismay) fails to disrupt the Resistance's operations due to his stupidity, and unintentionally signals the start of the Resistance's uprising (after accidentally killing a Metro Cop using one of his Antlions, Edward Junior). During the fighting, Frohman attempted to pose as a Metro Cop in order to avoid gunfire from the Combine (only to be shot at again, by the Resistance). He eventually settles as a Resistance medic.

Theme

Much of the comic's dark humor is derived from its contrasts with Half-Life 2: in a depressing, dark vision of a conquered humanity's future, Gordon Freeman becomes a hero and savior; the similarly-named Gordon Frohman, on the other hand, is just an average guy, improbably cheerful to the point of stupidity, and somewhat naive as to what is actually going on around him (for instance, Frohman fails to realise that his return-addressed letters to Doctor Breen reveal his location, and so result in that location being invaded, bombed or otherwise compromised).

The comic contains many references to events and objects in the game. In one comic, Frohman makes a clerical error that causes the Combine to order far too many explosive barrels,[2] thus suggesting an explanation for the barrels' ubiquity throughout City 17 and beyond; this gag is repeated with supply crates,[3] sawblades[4] and scanners[5] later in the storyline. In another strip, he writes a letter to Dr. Breen asking why using his flashlight reduces his ability to run, a reference to Half-Life 2's flashlight and sprint functions using the same power source. In another, his presence in the town of Ravenholm ends with it becoming the headcrab-infested ghost town seen in Half-Life 2 (after he wrote to Breen expressing his happiness with being there). Indeed, Frohman seems to (intentionally or accidentally) cause many of the disastrous circumstances that Gordon Freeman runs across, as he accidentally gives Breen the idea of headcrab shells while on a radio, and sets up all of the traps in Ravenholm himself in attempts to catch or kill Father Grigori. As such, the comic is chiefly targeted towards those who have played the game, but short "notes" sections appended to many of the comics attempt to give non-players some context. It's also apparent that Frohman may be aware of his existence in the Half-Life 2[6], and also referenced the time period[7] and linearity[8] of the game.

On two occasions, the comic delves into the Counter-Strike universe and community. One instance depicts Frohman's week-long experience in Counter-Strike, having been teleported to a CS server from Doctor Kleiner's lab[9]; another occurs after Frohman is launched from a headcrab shell launcher in Lost Coast, and lands in a Counter-Strike map, inadvertantly, and lethally, crushing a hostage NPC[10].

Since Concerned follows a similar path through the Half-Life 2 universe as the game, the comic contains spoilers for those who have not yet played it.

Additional information

Origin of comic name

Concerned derives its name from one of the propaganda broadcasts by Dr. Breen in Half-Life 2 in which he is reading a letter supposedly written by a citizen:

"Let me read a letter I recently received. 'Dear Dr. Breen. Why has the Combine seen fit to suppress our reproductive cycle? Sincerely, a concerned citizen.' Thank you for writing, Concerned."

Frohman is a big fan of Dr. Breen, writing frequent letters to the administrator and calling his broadcasts "The Dr. Breen Show". In one letter in which Frohman complains "I got no angle in my dangle! You feel me?", he finishes with the part Breen reads in his announcement (but not without adding a postscript, "PS: Seriously! Frohman gots to get his freak on! PPS: I love your show! You rock! TTYL!"). Thus, "Concerned" is meant to be Frohman himself.

Combine funeral and mourning strips

During Gordon Freeman's run through Highway 17, his actions are shown from the Combine's perspective; after killing a soldier with a lawn chair launched from the gravity gun, several follow-up strips track his funeral and mourning by companions, in a faux-serious style. Some readers took the faux-serious comics seriously, not having considered the impact Freeman's constant struggle had against his enemies. (This coincidentally mirrors a statement by Breen in Half-Life 2 - "You have destroyed so much. What is it, exactly, that you have created? Can you name even one thing?")

The author has stated that the strips were not intended to be serious. ("I will never intentionally be serious, deep, meaningful, or poignant here. Ever."[11]) Livingston assured his readers that, on the contrary, the comic was only meant to be comical, perhaps in a similar fashion to an Austin Powers scene involving the families of the homogenous "evil henchmen" Powers has killed.

Trivia

  • Frohman hints that he may be Jewish (replying "I'm really more of a synagogue kind of guy" when he is directed to a church on a nearby clifftop)[12]. He may, however, simply be grasping for an excuse not to climb the cliff, or he may have an aversion to churches due to his time in Ravenholm, where Father Grigori frequently and enigmatically told him to "head for the church" without actually telling him its location. This eventually sent Frohman into a vengeful fury[13].
  • The names of all chapters of the comic (except the prologue) are based on those seen in Half-Life 2, and at times relay the theme of the chapters in the comic:
    • Pointless Insertion - Chapter 1: Point Insertion
    • A Read Letter Day - Chapter 2: "A Red Letter Day"
    • Route Banal - Chapter 3: Route Kanal
    • Water Haphazard - Chapter 4: Water Hazard
    • Black Mesa Guest - Chapter 5: Black Mesa East
    • We Still Go To Ravenholm - Chapter 6: "We Don't Go To Ravenholm..."
    • Bike Lane 17 - Chapter 7: Highway 17
    • Sand Trip - Chapter 8: Sandtraps
    • No Prospekts - Chapter 9: Nova Prospekt
    • Although Chapter 10: Entanglement was never a chapter in the comic, the author stated that he had drawn out some comics for it called "Befuddlement," and may put them up as a "lost chapter" when the series is completed.
    • Anticitizen 101 - Chapter 11: Anticitizen One
    • Follow, Frohman - Chapter 12: "Follow Freeman!"
  • Throughout Concerned, Frohman has been followed by the G-Man in a manner similar in Half-Life 2; however, where the G-Man Freeman knows is elusive and cryptic, Frohman has been able to converse or interact with him a few times. The G-Man has appeared at least once (obviously or otherwise) in every past chapter of the comic, except the prologue strip.

Appearances on media

Concerned has been the subject of articles or sidebars in the following publications:

  • Computer Gaming World - January 2006 issue, page 52, in "Public Access" section. Article titled "Funny Freeman", which includes two Concerned comics made exclusively for the magazine. Comics #1-60 included on issue's coverdisc.
  • Half-Life 2: Episode One - An Easter egg sees two rebels converse with several humourous lines, including a possible reference to Concerned:

    "I don't miss Dr. Breen, but I do miss his show. Remember when they had the jugglers on?"

    However, the comic's author disputes this assertion:

    "A lot of people writing in about this are of the opinion that this is a reference, by Valve, to my comic. Well... I don't really think so myself. It's a bit of a stretch, and while I know certain people at Valve are aware of my comic, I just can't imagine them going out of their way to reference it in the game. (Plus, I've never had jugglers in the comic.) It's a nice thought, though! And thanks for writing to me about it, I didn't hear it the first time I played."[15]

  • PC Gamer - May 2006 issue, page 58, article titled "Concerned".
  • PC Gamer UK - March 2006 issue, page 109, "Extra-Life" section. Article titled "Concerned". Comics #1-100 included on issue's coverdisc. Same article printed in the May 2006 issue of American PC Gamer , on page 58.
  • PC Zone - January 2006 issue, sidebar, titled "A Little Concerned".

References

  1. ^ Concerned #145. URL accessed on June 4, 2006.
  2. ^ Concerned #021. URL accessed on June 4, 2006.
  3. ^ Concerned #073. URL accessed on June 24, 2006.
  4. ^ Concerned #088. URL accessed on June 24, 2006.
  5. ^ Concerned #148. URL accessed on June 24, 2006.
  6. ^ Concerned #007. URL accessed on June 16, 2006.
  7. ^ Concerned #014. URL accessed on June 11, 2006.
  8. ^ Concerned #084. URL accessed on June 11, 2006.
  9. ^ Concerned #040. URL accessed on June 4, 2006.
  10. ^ Concerned #110. URL accessed on June 4, 2006.
  11. ^ Concerned #152. URL accessed on June 11, 2006.
  12. ^ Concerned #108. URL accessed on June 7, 2006.
  13. ^ Concerned #087. URL accessed on June 4, 2006.
  14. ^ Concerned #158. URL accessed on June 7, 2006.
  15. ^ Concerned #162. URL accessed on June 16, 2006.
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