Built for Comfort is a webcomic by Jamie McGarry (who is also part of the creative team at No 4th Wall to Break). This webcomic replaced McGarry's previous comic, Lunch Break Toons, which ran for a year from August 2003 to the start-date of Built For Comfort.

The comic is set in the not-so-fictional town of Driffield, England, and follows the adventures of four teenagers, one of whom is the strip's creator. The name came to him during a conversation with a "smart man" named Hector Gilbert. He was reminded that whenever he lost a footrace (which was often), his Physical Education teacher would describe McGarry as "Built for comfort, not speed." McGarry later learned that the teacher had gotten this line from a classic song by legendary space-rock band 'UFO', among others.

Built for Comfort is illustrated entirely using the aid of computer programs and updates regularly every weekday. The comic is accompanied by blog-like entries which are often supportive of other comics and offer insight behind the strips.

McGarry often includes films and other projects that he has worked on with his classmates on the site. He also runs a weekly contest where readers suggest an amusing caption for a photo that is posted on the page.

The Major Characters

Most of the characters in Built for Comfort are based on Jamie's real-life classmates. The main characters are around 17 years of age, and attend the Sixth Form College at the local school.

Jamie McGarry: Jamie likes cheap and cheerful comedy, and food. But the one (and only) thing he loves in a big way is the classic 90's band "The Beautiful South." Jamie prides himself on owning almost every song they have ever made.

Jack Ward: Jack is not tall, but he is silly and friendly. He has both of those qualities in abundance and often likes to share them with his friends. They often do not want him to share. But Jack likes to share.

Howard Staveley: Howard is the sensible pillar of the bunch. He has a wide range of interests and plays five musical instruments. This has won him respect from those in the school, and he has many popular friends. For a time, he also dated Laura Hat, the only female cast member.

Ricky Thornhill: Ricky is the 'cool' member of the group, but also acts as a sidekick to Jamie or Howard.

Mr. Sock: Mr. Sock is a mysterious sock that was found one day when Jamie's childhood pal Tim opened his Christmas socks to find that they were alive. One of the socks was killed in an Easter 2004 storyline, but the other survived to become the Mr. Sock of today.

Laura Hat: Laura is the token girl character. She dated Howard for a period, but later fell for a professional racecar driver while on a Monte Carlo vacation with Jamie. Laura's right hand was bit off by a crocodile and she wears a hook as a result.

Vince Prescott: Vince is the villian of the piece, but historically every time he's gone up against the heroes he's come off worse. He comes from a background of violence, and is always plotting the demise of the major characters in Built for Comfort.

The Minor Characters

Michael Prescott: Vince's dad replaced the old headmaster of Driffield School, but it soon turned out he was organising a gang of thugs to terrify the pupils. He was thrown in jail, but later sprung out by his son, and died during a failed kidnapping of Laura.

Mrs. Hat: Mrs. Hat is the landlady, and the grandmother of Laura Hat. She used to be Jamie's next-door neighbour.

Sam: Sam often serves no plot device at all, except that he gets hurt in most of the stories he appears in. This is a running gag.

Carl: Carl is a guard at the prison, and was also a zookeeper. He lost his job at the zoo for letting Jack steal dozens of penguins, then was killed by Vince during a prison break.

Judith McGarry: Jamie's mum, who moved to the US after her house was destroyed, and has not been seen since.

Gus: Gus was a ringleader of local thugs, but eventually died by falling off a cliff.

Jimmy Perkins: Jimmy is the son of PC Perkins, and was in a bit of trouble with the thugs until Howard intervened.

Mrs. Appleton: A former dinner lady of the school, she resigned from her job after having a baby, but came back to work when her much older husband died during BFC Season One.

Susan Featherstone: A weathergirl at East Yorkshire Television.

Annette Curtin: A news reporter at East Yorkshire Television.

Tim Hewitt: The 'childhood friend' of Jamie's mentioned above, he has appeared occasionally throughout the strip's two-year run.

External links

Built for Comfort

No 4th Wall to Break