
Wands & Warts - the first alternate universe comic strip
For every 50 comics of Darths & Droids, the Comic Irregulars create a bonus strip of an alternate universe where they are making a screencap comic based of another franchise. Each of these alternate universe comics include:
- One strip of the comic, always strip #50;
- An archive with a list of the strip titles up to number 50 (Note: the title for strip #50 is the only link that actually displays a comic);
- A FAQ with answers slightly modified to fit the source of the screencaps;
- A Cast page detailing which Darths & Droids player is playing which character, and descriptions of major NPCs.
How to Find the Alternate Universe strips
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On the Darths & Droids home page, click on Archive, then click on Episode 1 to Episode 208, then click on Episode 50, The 23% Solution. The annotation reads as follows:
In the universe the players inhabit, Star Wars does not exist. That's the premise of this entire comic, after all. But most of the other things we know and love (such as Mad Max) do, albeit modified by the lack of Star Wars:
•Spaceballs is a serious documentary about the practical applications of Buckminsterfullerene.
•Mark Hamill is known (barely) for doing voiceovers for poorly selling computer games, but gains widespread fame after his appearance in the first Futurama movie.
•Harrison Ford is known primarily for Indiana Jones.
•Nerdy guys make YouTube videos of themselves wielding crossbows instead of lightsabres.
•Without the success of Star Wars to spark interest in science fiction in the late 70s and early 80s, Star Trek was never revived with movies and new series, and remains an obscure short-running TV show.
•Moonraker was never made. James Bond fans never had it so good.
•The major science fiction background that pervades all of Western culture is Battlestar Galactica, despite it never being much good. It was remade recently as a new, updated television series with a bigger budget, high-tech computerised special effects, and edgy writing. And it sucked.
•Throughout the 80s and 90s, all the greatest Hollywood blockbusters were big-budget family-oriented musicals.
•The Comic Irregulars exist and are making a screencap comic based on Harry Potter.
The words Harry Potter on the last line have an internal link. Click on that to get to the Harry Potter page. In addition to an annotation relevant to the strip, there'll be another annotation that's a variant of the "Star Wars does not exist" annotation. It'll be mostly the same except as if the Alternate Universe film/tv show didn't exist, and changes the names to match the genre of that film/tv show. The final line will be, "The Comic Irregulars exist and are making a screencap comic based on (other film/tv show)". That other film/tv show will have an internal link on its title. Click on that link to get to the next Alternate Universe strip. All the past Alternate Universe strips will have this "X does not exist" annotation in addition to an annotation relevant to the strip. The last line of that "X does not exist" annotation will have an internal link to the next Alternate Universe strip. Keep clicking on these internal links to get to the most recent Alternate Universe strip.
The most recent Alternate Universe strip will not have the "X does not exist" annotation, just an annotation relevant to that strip. When a new Alternate Universe strip is added, the previous AU strip will have the "X does not exist" annotation for the first time after the original annotation, ending with the internal link to the now newest AU strip.
The "X does not exist" Structure
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Below is the basic structure of the "X does not exist" annotation. The words and names that are always changed to match the film/tv show the AU strip is based on are highlighted with italics.
In the real world of Alternate Universe strip, of course, AU film/tv show/book series don't/does not exist. That's the premise of this entire comic, after all. But most of the other things we know and love (such as something related to AU strip/AU film or tv show/AU film or tv show's genre) do, albeit modified by the lack of AU film/tv show:
•One word title starting with a word related to AU film/tv show and ending with "balls" is a serious documentary about the humorous definition of one word balls title.
•Actor from AU film/tv show is known (barely) for doing voiceovers for poorly selling computer games, but gains widespread fame after his appearance in the first Futurama movie.
•Other actor from AU film/tv show is known primarily for other role actor did.
•Nerdy guys make YouTube videos of themselves doing something from another genre instead of something from AU film/tv show.
•Without the success of AU film/tv show to spark interest in AU film/tv show's genre in the past decade and next decade AU film/tv show came out, other film/tv show from same genre was never revived with movies and new series, and remains an obscure short-running TV show.
•Adaptation of popular book series featuring the AU film/tv show's genre was never made. That popular book series fans never had it so good.
•The major AU film/tv show's genre background that pervades all of Western culture is other film/tv show/book series from same genre, despite it never being much good. It was remade recently as a new, updated television series with a bigger budget, high-tech computerised special effects, and edgy writing. And it sucked.
•Throughout the past decade and next decade the AU film/tv show came out, all the greatest Hollywood blockbusters were big-budget other genre.
•The Comic Irregulars exist and are making a screencap comic based on next AU film/tv show.
List of Alternate Universe strips
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With the 300th Darths&Droids Episode, there were 2 new Alternate Universe strips at once, for 300 and Avatar. This is to date, the only time more than one Alternate Universe strip was introduced at the same time.
With the 1350th Episode, no Alternate Universe strip was made then, due to personal matters at the time that required more time away from the computer for Da&Dr writer David Morgan-Marr, and less time to make an Alternate Universe strip. The "X does not exist" annotation was added to the most recent AU strip upon the 1350th Episode, but the final line read: "•The Comic Irregulars exist but aren't making a comic strip, because their public face person has to deal with a sudden and serious personal issue which requires him to be offline significantly more than usual for several days.", that instead of linking to a new AU strip, linked to the forum announcement that there would be no new AU strip for the 1350th Episode. With the 1400th Episode, the making of new Alternate Universe strips was resumed and that final line was replaced with the normal line linking to the next AU strip.
With the most recent 50th Episode being Episode 1450, there are currently 29 Alternate Universe strips total.
- Wands & Warts : a screencap comic based on Harry Potter
- Notes & Nazis : a screencap comic based on The Sound of Music
- Mutants & Miscreants: a screencap comic based on X-men
- Enlisted Men & Extraterrestrial Biological Entities : a screencap comic based on Aliens
- Magicians & Munchkins : a screencap comic based on The Wizard of Oz
- Sandals & Spartans : a screencap comic based on 300
- Avatars & Avifauna : a screencap comic based on Avatar
- Terminators & Temporal Paradoxes : a screencap comic based on the Terminator movies
- Carcasses & Carcharadons : a screencap comic based on the Jaws movies
- Trenchcoats & Turncoats : a screencap comic based on Casablanca
- Amphibians & Anthropomorphisms : a screencap comic based on The Muppet Movie
- Heists & Hypnagogic Hallucinations : a screencap comic based on Inception
- Barnacles & Bilgewater : a screencap comic based on Pirates of the Caribbean
- Docs & DeLoreans : a screencap comic based on Back to the Future
- Hypnotoads & Hyperchickens : a screencap comic based on Futurama
- Chocolates & Chumps : a screencap comic based on Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
- Ids & Idiots : a screencap comic based on Forbidden Planet
- Egons & Ectoplasms : a screencap comic based on Ghostbusters
- Hellenes & Harryhausens : a screencap comic based on Jason and the Argonauts
- Misadventures & Marionettes : a screencap comic based on Thunderbirds
- Arks & Archaeologists : a screencap comic based on Raiders of the Lost Ark
- Them Parks & Theropods : a screencap comic based on Jurassic Park
- Darcies and Diaries : a screencap comic based on Bridget Jones's Diary
- Marmosets and Meerkats : A screencap comic based on The Life of Mammals
- Gags & Griswolds : A screencap comic based on National Lampoon's Vacation
- Elliotts and Extraterrestrials : A screencap comic based on E. T.: The Extra Terrestrial
- Moonshots and Mishaps : A screencap comic based on Apollo 13
- Pac-Mans and Power Pellets : A screencap comic based on Pac-Man
- Drivers and Dubble-Yas : A screencap comic based on It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Fans have taken the idea of the alternate universe strips in the other direction, and submitted comics to the fan-comic websites of the webcomic irregulars.
- .& : A screencap comic based on Postcards
- Lasagnas & Litterboxes : A comic based on Garfield