Least I Could Do (LICD) is a humorwebcomic by Ryan Sohmer and Lar Desouza, which debuted on February 102003. Although Lar Desouza is the current artist, the comic had been previously drawn by Chad WM. Porter, for two years, and before that, Trevor Adams. The primary theme of the strip is sexuality, especially the promiscuity of the primary character, Rayne Summers, a modern-day Casanova.
The strip updates every day but Sunday. Stories tend to last for only a few strips, but some have gone several weeks. The strip has done fairly long parodies of characters, such as those from The Lord of the Rings, (having Rayne being placed as Aragorn), X-Men (with Rayne as Wolverine) and GI Joe, each taking place where Rayne is either struck unconscious, falls asleep or blacks out.
Important events
In late 2004, I Have My Moments was released, a full colour book featuring the first year of LICD with Chad as the artist. The original artist for the strip was Trevor, who drew the strip from its debut until July 182003. Chad took over on July 28 of that year.
In early 2005, the strip underwent a major change when Rayne's friend Noel arrived. Noel was often given roles that previously would have gone to the character John Gold, whose frequency in the strip was somewhat reduced. Soon after, Rayne became an executive assistant on falsified credentials, with the intent of sleeping with the CEO.
Least I Could Do "3.0" launched on August 152005 with the departure of Chad as the artist. Lar deSouza, a long time friend of Ryan Sohmer, and his artistic partner on the daily comic In Other News, has taken over the reins as the artist for Least I Could Do. The comic and website has been undergoing some major changes as a result.
December 2005 marked the release of My Will Be Done, the complete 2nd year collection and final works of Chad. It also included a mini-comic drawn by Lar, depicting the origins of Braman. In July 2006 the first Braman comic was released.
Though the primary character is Rayne, a growing supporting cast has LICD being compared at times to The Simpsons[citation needed], as it will sometimes go up to a week without a strip featuring Rayne. These usually involve large story arcs involving the other characters, though Sohmer still specializes in the one strip joke.
Rayne Summers is the primary character. Rayne is a petty, perpetually horny, and childish 20 something with an underdeveloped EQ but also a decent guy at heart who is fiercely loyal to his friends, even though he messes with them constantly, usually through elaborate and somewhat sophomoric pranks. He can be extremely noble at times, such as when he defended his gay proctologist from a homophobic woman or when he proved willing to sleep with a plain, overweight woman so Noel could get laid (see wingman). Rayne is quite a geek, and a fan of science fiction and fantasy books and movies, with his passion for George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy book series and the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings movies having been specifically noted in several strips. In particular he is obsessed with Aragorn from Lord of the Rings, and has had several elaborate fantasies of being the character while unconscious. He has also been willing to dress up while attending both Star Wars and Lord of the Rings premieres, and has even adopted an Aragorn costume while going out to a bar to look for women.
Rayne is an attractive and extremely promiscuous man, having slept with fifty women at the strip's opening, and many more women (and one man, in exchange for protection in prison) over the course of the strip. As of 2006, the highest total that has been given is 1,000 in number but there were at least 10 other instances he could have added to the estimation in the May 22, 2006 strip (the one that gave 1000). He briefly had a serious relationship with Cyndi Wang (and it was implied he had serious feelings for her), however a meeting with her parents went badly and so the relationship never properly started, though the did sleep together at a New Year's Eve party a while after they broke up. He currently has a casual relationship with his boss Marcy McKean, despite their business relationship, though it is clear that he still sleeps with other women.
Previously, he was a columnist, but after hearing about Marcy, a very attractive billionaire, he became determined to become an employee of her company, and use the chance to seduce her. With a little help from friend and roommate Mick, he was able to falsify his resume, which landed him a very high paying job as a company executive. Despite his questionable motives in joining the company and seeming lack of qualifications, it is apparent that Rayne's employment has had a positive effect on IDS, as Marcy notes he is the reason the company has been turning record profits. Rayne has also been involved in several notable incident in IDS, including soon after being hired he drove Marcy's pregnant secretary to the hospital when her water unexpectedly broke. The dangerous drive through city traffic won him Marcy's respect, (despite the fact that he wrecked her car along the way), and also his first kiss from her.
Some other things Rayne is noted for is the invention of the term "vagoo" for the vagina, considering the normal term too clinical - the word has fallen into regular use in the strip since then. Rayne recently discovered that he in fact has an older half-sister named Emily, the result of a teenage pregnancy by his mother, and a niece, Ashley, with whom he has formed a serious bond. He owns a cat named Baby (a gift from his parents), who Rayne he has tried to mate with Mick's dog, despite the fact they are of different species and both females. Rayne recently bought a brand-spanking new Audi RS4 in an attempt to outdo his brother's new BMW. He also had the car adorned with the Autobot logo.
Rayne had a recent near-death experience during a sky diving trip where he fell out of the plane without a parachute. In a week's series of strips, the strip focused on Rayne's funeral, which included the unveiling of a statue of himself complete with fully-erect Penis (so women could "pay tribute" instead of leaving flowers), and, per his will, his brother Eric getting kneed in the groin by his lawyers. The whole scene was revealed to be a fantasy when the strip returned to reality and Rayne was rescued in mid-air by his diving instructor and escaped with only minor injuries. The incident also sparked one of the strip's more touching moments: after Rayne and friends returned to the city he announced that his brush with death had led him to think about priorities, and that he had to go see about a girl. While his friends starting placing bets on which on his girlfriends he might be seeing, Rayne actually went to see his young niece Ashley.
File:LICD Noel.gifNoelNoel is Rayne's best friend, a later addition to the strip, first appearing on January 102005. Before showing up on the comic, he had been dating an overweight woman (instead of that woman's attractive friend, whom he was actually interested in) for 5 years, during which he had become alienated from his friends. When he came back, he was readily welcomed back by Issa and Rob, but Rayne was marginally harder to win over, and had Noel read a verbal contract promising that 1) if Noel were to disappear again for a woman, he would make sure that she was at least semi-attractive, and 2) that Rayne was entitled to mock him endlessly for having gone out with a fat woman.
His appearance greatly reduced John Gold's importance in the strip. He usually plays Rayne's wingman, and although he does not always appear to approve of Rayne's promiscuity, he is markedly less critical of it than John. Many of the comics strips feature Rayne and Noel walking through a park. In these strips Rayne often refers to various "conquests" he has had recently, or the two will discuss any issue which has recently risen, such as politics or topics of modern culture. Noel will usually end the strip with a one liner that shows the flaws in Rayne's logic. Despite Noel being something of a voice of reason for Rayne, and being exposed to Rayne's often self-centered and childish approach to the world more often than many characters, he never seems to grow truly frustrated with Rayne, (even when Rayne turns to insulting him), his general reaction being instead to shake his head in amusement and sit back to see what outrageous thing Rayne will say or do next. A downside to this easygoing nature is that he often winds up right alongside Rayne in those outrageous pranks, sometimes against his own better judgment.
File:LICD John.gifJohnJohn Gold is Rayne's roommate, who often acts as a foil. He expresses a resigned discontent with Rayne's promiscuity; he himself is looking for a wife, which has been shown to lead him into being somewhat needy and over-hasty in relationships. He is a grade school teacher, and has on two occasions romanced Rebecca, a single mother whose child is in his class. His temptations are represented by a small Darth Vader, in a parody of the shoulder devil cliché. This Darth Vader character frequently appears, not only to tempt him, but also to voice the darker thoughts that John represses and even has a brief relationship with Rebecca's own "shoulder devil" cliché. In another brief relationship of John's he became involved with a woman named Hannah who became a major part of his life and even half moved in with him too quickly for Rayne's liking. Hannah, in turn, didn't care for Rayne, and when she asked John to choose between her Rayne, John showed his loyalty to his longtime friend by choosing Rayne.
John was a major character in the strip's beginning, second only to Rayne himself, but since the emergence of Noel and, to a lesser degree, Mick as major characters, John has faded into the background to the point where he seems to exist only to be tormented by Rayne, or to join in on activities where the whole group is involved. (Such as the skydiving vacation where Rayne nearly died, or using the IDS company boat).
File:LICD Issa.gifIssaMelissa "Issa" Alie is one of Rayne's only female platonic friends, if not the only one. Rayne continually makes sexual advances on her, which she rejects. Despite this, it sometimes seems as though she has a slight crush on him. When she introduced her friends to her farmer-boyfriend, Huck. Huck's resemblance to Rayne was noted by the crew, and John and Mick went so far as to suggest that she was dating him in part because he looked like Rayne, suggesting a subconscious interest in him. (Huck has not appeared since, so the status of the relationship is unknown). Issa also voiced an attraction to Rayne's borther Eric when Eric came to visit, so much so that she was wiling to be part of the bet between Rayne and Eric over who was better at picking up women. (Had Eric won, his prize would have been a night with Issa). However, this could also be simply due to the fact that Eric is a doctor, which Issa appears to have a thing for. She works as a clerk at a gas station, Esco. Filler strips frequently involve her in revealing clothing, or jokes about readers' attraction to her.
File:LICD Mick.gifMickMick Alfa is an overweight and awkward friend of Rayne's, whom he often uses as a wingman. Rayne often enlists Mick in elaborate (and occasionally bizarre) charades to help him get laid, such as having Mick pretend to be retarded, to make himself look compassionate and dressing him up as a Nun named "Sister Likestacos". Rayne also makes Mick the target of frequent beastiality jokes, going so far as getting him a sheep's phone number. Despite this, Mick and Rayne are real friends, and he actually and managed to secure Rayne his job (by pretending to be a NASA representative). He also seems to be fairly comfortable with his body, often making light of his weight and bad luck with women. Mick himself is a TV program director. Mick strikes out more often than not, but he has had more steady relationships than Rayne, Noel and John combined, to Rayne's great shock.
Supporting characters
Rob Penfield is Rayne and John's neighbour. He lives with his domineering girlfriend, Beth, who is never seen. His friends frequently accuse him of being "whipped." He works in marketing. Although he is listed on the site as a main character, he rarely appears and has only three times appeared since Lar took over as artist. His last major appearance saw him being in Rayne's "funeral". He has not shown up in a character header on the site since the end of 2005.
Cyndi Wang is Rayne's ex-girlfriend. She met him while working as a waitress at a Chinese restaurant, they went horseback riding once after Rayne convinced her that he was an "expert" equestrian. Rayne almost wrecked the date by trying to pay the Suck For A Buck Lady to give his horse Wild Rage oral sex in order to calm it down, but saved it with a memorable picnic (August 28, 2003). This strip provided the title of the year one book, "I Have My Moments". After this they began dating. However, he lost her parents' approval by describing his sexual plans for her. In the years that followed she wouldb occasionally make brief appearances in the strip, for example when she helped Rayne and John to assemble a rock garden, and again to help Rayne in a series of strips where he went to a local martial arts school in order to challenge its teacher. Her words of advice and encouragement saved Rayne from the mauling he was taking, and allowed him to emerge victorious against the student he was challenging. Although she told Rayne she wanted to remain "friends", (which he translates as "I will NEVER sleep with you") after a wild New Years Eve party, Rayne woke up to find Cyndi naked in his bed. After much discussion, during which it was revealed that Rayne had initially passed out during his initial attempt, Rayne and Cyndi would spend the next eight hours having sex. It is implied that she is the one woman Rayne has deeper feelings for, besides perhaps Issa.
Marcy McKean is the CEO of IDS Enterprises, a self-made multi-millionaire. Rayne used false credentials and help from Mick, who pretended to be a former boss of Rayne's at NASA, to secure a job as a consultant in her company solely for the benefit of sleeping with her. Although he has received oral satisfaction from her, he has still yet to succeed at his ultimate goal. Marcy appears to still be unaware of the fraud, as well as the fact that sex is his primary goal. For her own part, Marcy has a strong physical attraction to Rayne, but no desire for a relationship with him, and has avoided giving into her physical urges due to the possible complications that would arise.
Eric Summers is Rayne's brother. They have similar views of the opposite sex and a similar sense of humour. Eric is a doctor. He constantly brings up this fact to taunt Rayne, since he is a doctor and Rayne isn't. This is a constant source of annoyance for Rayne. In Eric's first appearance, he is challenged by Rayne to a "bake-off" in the bar, where each point is won with a verified phone number or kiss by an attractive girl. In the end, Rayne was victorious, after the game went to a sudden death match where Rayne was clearly the winner. Recently he made a brief cameo, during a phone conversation in which he and Rayne learn of their half-sister. He appeared in another recent strip where it was revealed he is starting sensitivity training, after consoling the bereaved family of a dead patient with the words "shit happens." Recently, he appeared in a strip where he antagonized Rayne once again for not being as successful and bragging about his brand-spanking new BMW (whereas Rayne doesn't own a vehicle at all), prompting Rayne to go on a quest for a better and more expensive car. Recently he starred with Rayne in a story arc involving them playing Battlefield 1942 together. They both took the week off from work, and continually murdered each other in game.
Emily - Rayne and Eric's older half-sister, she was the result of a teenage pregnancy of Rayne's mother. She was given up for adoption upon birth. Emily would hire an agency to find her birth mother and was soon introduced to the family. Emily works as a lawyer, but is currently off on maternity leave. She has two daughters and seems to be significantly more grounded than either Rayne or Eric. She prefers Legolas to Aragorn, which makes Rayne question whether she is actually related to him.
Charles. The recent discovery of Emily, has brought in an additional member into Rayne's family. Emily's husband has already come to quickly realize that his new brother-in-law is rather insane.
Ashley is Rayne's niece from his half-sister Emily. Though she initially does not speak to Rayne, (out of shyness), she has warmed up to him after he took her for ice cream and a walk in the park which led to the two wreaking havoc in a local Toys "R" Us. Ashley shares Rayne's short attention span, mischievous streak and appears to share his love of Star Wars as well as shown when she attempts to use a Jedi Mind trick on him. Likewise, Rayne is slowly getting used to kids through interactions with her. You would think that visitation rights might be limited as Rayne has managed to teach her swear words and terrify her all in one day, but Emily knows how much the two like each other, and recently traded one of her friends to get Rayne to go with Ashley to space camp (although Rayne was willing to sell John into slavery in order to go). The two wreaked havoc at camp together, and Ashley has also been involved in one of LICD's more touching moments; after Rayne narrowly avoids death in a skydiving accident, he seems pensive and tells his friends that he has to go see a girl. His roommate speculate and bet on whether Rayne will be going to see Cyndi, Marcy, or Julie, but instead Rayne shows up in Ashley's room asking if she wants to play.
Nancy is Marcy's receptionist. Before Rayne's interview, another man had shown up with the same goal, but Marcy realized the ploy, and threatened to fire Nancy if it ever happened again. Although Marcy has not yet realized Rayne's intentions, this has caused Rayne some guilt, especially because Nancy was pregnant at the time. She has since given birth; despite circumstances forcing Rayne to act as midwife, the child had no obvious problems. Rayne only served as midwife long enough to discover that the fetus was backwards, so Rayne (using driving skills only Grand Theft Auto could harvest) drove Nancy to the hospital. Rayne was given the honor of naming Nancy's son, and quickly chose Aragorn. Marcy promised to give him a good middle-name.
Suzie is Mick's ex-girlfriend. Soon after he met her, she revealed she had dated John for nearly a year and had slept with Rayne multiple times (and that she had slept with over 30 men). Mick decided that her history didn't matter to him, and they continued dating even as Rayne made continuous "whore" jokes. Unfortunately for Mick, Suzie soon cheated on him soon after he decided to tell her that he loved her. After letting Rayne make her cry (with the help of the Suck-for-a-Buck Lady) he broke up with her. Suzie appeared again once after Lars took over the strip, encountering Mick and Rayne with negative results to her newest relationship.
Huck is Issa's ex-boyfriend who lives on a farm. When Issa brought Rayne, John, and Mick out to the farm for the weekend to meet Huck, Rayne ended up offending Huck, and Mick got a goat's phone number, courtesy of Rayne. John was sick after seeing Huck shoot a crossbow bolt through the head of a gopher. It also should be noted that Huck shares a striking resemblance to Rayne, causing John and Mick to comment on whether or not Issa secretly harbored feelings for Rayne.
Braman is Rayne's alter ego. When evil attacks the good, when darkness threatens the light, when 2 bottles of tequila are emptied, Braman will be there. Real Life has Shirt-Ninja and VG Cats has Pantsman. Least I Could Do has Braman.
Little Vader is John's evil conscience. He comes to John's aid when he needs help, though often his advice is unwanted and inappropriate. He once tried to hide the Death Star in John's Apartment.
Little Chewie could be considered John's good conscience, although he has only been seen in one strip (September 09, 2003). Like the original Chewbacca, little Chewie cannot speak English. Therefore, it is also possible that he was agreeing with Little Vader and encouraging John to sleep with the student's mother.
Little Jar-Jar appeared once (September 13, 2003) before as another possible representation of John's good conscience, though he was quickly murdered by Little Vader.
Rebecca Brisko is the attractive, recently-divorced mother of one of John's Students, Kasey. John is insanely attracted to her, and has slept with her on two separate occasions, with the prodding of Little Vader, to Rayne's great shock. (In her first appearance, Rebecca was named Jessica).
Little Genie is the conscience of Rebecca Brisko, the woman John sleeps with. (It is unknown if Genie is a good or evil conscience.) She slept with Little Vader at the same time John slept with Rebecca. Vader later vaporized her to avoid an awkward "Why haven't you called?" conversation.
Harry is a homeless artist. After being offended by John's condescension, he set up shop outside his apartment building. He is modeled off of Lar deSouza, Ryan's friend and now the artist for LICD. He was formerly the artist from "In Other News".
The "Suck For a Buck Lady" is a prostitute who often appears but never speaks. Introduced (July 03, 2003) as the one time Rayne was tempted to actually pay for sex, but he decided that, "It just seems wrong that I spend more on a pack of gum." Rayne would eventually save her from arrest and introduce her for various one-strip gags.
Dr. Wilcott is Rayne's stand in internist when his regular physician was out of town. Trying to strike up conversation, Rayne found out he was gay, right before a colonoscopy. Initially homophobic, Rayne later joked with the doctor, and eventually defended him from a woman in the waiting room. Used as a vehicle to express Ryan Sohmer's deep objection to homophobia.
Phil the Pharmacist is Rayne's pharmacist. He sells Rayne condoms by the caseload and has a boat named the SS Rayne. Almost had a nervous breakdown when Rayne decided to stop buying condoms from him, since he was sick of using them. He taught Rayne about various contraceptive devices, and Rayne ultimately decided that condoms were best.
Martin is Rayne's executive assistant. He is introduced to Rayne at the end of his first day at work. Martin is madly in love with Marcy and construes Rayne as a threat.
Urchin is a street kid that does odd jobs for Rayne, either for his amusement or for trying to get women. He acts as Rayne's assistant and is paid in jelly beans. He is the creator (or at least tester) of The Bird Catapult, and sleeps in Noel's car.
Mr. and Mrs. Summers are Rayne and Eric's parents. Introduced as occasional flashback characters before their appearance in 2006, it's been made clear where Rayne and Eric get most of the traits. They have long ago come to terms with their sons' promiscuity and during several occasions it's been implied that both Mr. and Mrs. Summers were similar to their boys in their own childhoods. Like everyone else in Rayne's life they are used to his outrageous behavior and often anticipate the worse case scenarios when Rayne gets overstimulated. It was revealed that Mrs. Summers had another child, Emily when she was a teenager and has recently reunited with her daughter.
Jean, a beautiful pharmacist, is one of the few (if not only) women to get the better of Rayne Summers in bed. At first ignoring Rayne because she thought he wanted a relationship, she later agrees to a bout of sex with him. Unfortunately, she likes it rough and beats Rayne up and even asks him to choke her. It seems that S&M is where Rayne draws the line (or at least when a testicle gets slapped), and he leaves, to be comforted by his mother. For a short while Rayne was afraid of women, but he eventually gets back on the horse.
Mike von Huntington is an obnoxious man Rayne met at Space Camp Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, Mike is everything Rayne is not: snotty, unpleasent, unattractive, condesending and elitest. Rayne has referred to him as an "arch-enemy" but his chance for revenge came when Mike applied for a job at IDS under him. Rayne tormented him for a while, but, to his great dismay, Mike's portfolio was so good and his proposal so accurate Rayne was forced to hire him. Don't worry, dear readers, we are asssured that Rayne will make his life a living hell. Rayne has nicknamed him Archie due to his red hair and buck teeth. He has a little sister named Julia who is, if anything, more condesending than he is.
Covers of Least I Could Do books 1, 2 and 3, and Bra-man #1.
Least I Could Do books are published by Blind Ferret Entertainment Inc. Two books are available currently, which round up the 2 years that the comic was drawn by Chad. A third book (containing the first year Lar drew) was announced in an October 2006 newspost. The second book includes a mini-comic drawn by Lar deSouza that explains the origins of Bra-man. Further collections will most likely be released in the future, showcasing Lar's work.
I Have My Moments: The Complete First Year Collection; December 2004 ISBN 0-9736946-0-2
My Will Be Done: The Complete Second Year Collection; December 2005 ISBN 0-9736946-1-0
Because I Can: The Complete Third Year Collection; December 2006 (Pending)
The first of a series of "Bra-man" comics was released in July 2006. The 24 page comic will showcase the adventures of Bra-man, Rayne Summers' alter-ego. Bra-man #1 is written by Ryan Sohmer, drawn by Lar deSouza, and coloured by Marc Brunet.
Bra-man #1; January 2006
Animated Series
Work on the LICD: Animated Series has been going on for a couple of years now. After a false start with Chad, it seems to be taking off again. The LICD team, under their Blind Ferret banner, has been putting out the animated series for Ctrl+Alt+Del. Now, after that success, they have released their first screen test of a Least I Could do show. The trailer for the animated series was released in April of 2006, and can be found on the website.
Neologism
Over the years Sohmer has created a number of new words to describe his thoughts on life, sex, ... and sex, because evidently the 400,000 words in the English language just weren't doing it for him.
Vagoo - (created on February 232005.) Rayne states that the word vagina is "cold, sterile and doesn't do the female anatomy any justice. Other synonyms don't do any better either. Just not good descriptions of something warm and inviting." It has since been frequently used in the comic. A t-shirt designed by the Least I Could Do team also featured the word.
AUFLS - (pronounced "awfuls", created on March 262005.) Ass Ugly Friend who will want to Leave Syndrome. Apparently Rayne is still looking for the cure.
Frog King - (created on April 262006.) Used in exchange of the phrase "fucking". Introduced in a cartoon in which Rayne and his niece Ashely go down to the toy store, and after Ashely attempts a Jedi Mind Trick on him, Rayne exclaims "You're pretty fucking cool, you know that?!" (teaching Ashely a new word). A clerk mis-hears that and replies "I'm afraid we don't carry any Frog King merchandise.". A t-shirt design has since been made to commemorate the event.
Humpchies - (created on June 72006.) Because there clearly aren't enough words in the human language for Rayne to express himself without butchering them and making more, 'humpchies' was introduced as the unquenchable desire to hump something.
Vengerection - (created on November 12006.) An erection brought on by the thought of upcoming vengeance. Rayne experiences it for the first time when showed Marcy's schedule for the day and seeing that his old nemesis from Space Camp, Mike Von Huntington, has an interview with her for a job at the company.
Blind Ferret Entertainment
A company started by Ryan Sohmer, the creator of Least I Could Do, and partner Randy Waxman, Blind Ferret Entertainment is an independent web, print, film, television production and marketing company that works to develop, market, distribute and represent high-quality projects that reach out to targeted audiences. The company seems to be working towards bringing webcomics more into the mainstream, and has linked itself with popular comics Ctrl+Alt+Del, VG Cats, and 8-Bit Theater. Its most recent accomplishment is the creation of Ctrl+Alt+Del: The Animated Series. Work is also being done to bring Least I Could Do to television in the form of an animated series.
Spinoffs
On November, 6 2006 Ryan Sohmer and Lar DeSouza came out with a new webcomic called Looking For Group. The Comic follows Cale'Anon on his quest to save the world.
