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Digital Purgatory or DP is a webcomic created and written by Nix Karcel. It originally began with illustrations by Scott Ramsoomair of VG Cats but later changed artists and is now currently drawn by Donald Lozen. The name refers to the idea that we live in a 'Digital' age and that technology has made things worse, not better, by causing people to rely heavily upon it, so much so that they have become grossly incompetent and lazy. The main character Nix therefore is trapped in his own personal notion of "Purgatory" since he is forced to deal with them. Published once a week on its own web site every Monday, it features the often Office/Politics geared antics of a rag-tag group of social deviants working at a Corporate Software firm in Canada.

The strip centers on two cartoon characters, Nix and Neil, engaging in various situations usually involving their place of work, "Oaksoft". Nix; a Tech Support worker and sociopath obsessed with getting rich and doing as little work as possible, and Neil; his good-natured but equally lazy graphic-designer counterpart, spend the majority of their time trying to dodge various assignments and avoid being fired. The two characters are actually based on real-life counter parts Nix Karcel (the writer) and Scott Ramsoomair (former artist). While satirical and comedic for the majority of the time, Digital Purgatory also has it's serious moments and addresses real social/political issues from time to time.

Before moving to Teh Gewd Guyz, Digital Purgatory was part of a three-title consortium including This Comic Sucks and Snafu Comics.

Characters

Nix, The main character of the strip. Nix is a 20-something Goth IT worker with blond hair always seen wearing a black suit with red dress shirt and his trademark mirrored sunglasses. A recent College graduate, Nix has become disillusioned with life in the business world after starting work and realizing things are not quite how he thought they would be. Nix tends to be pessimistic and ambitious to a fault, and often finds himself clashing with other characters from the strip when they get in his way. Based on and named after the creator and writer of the strip, Nix Karcel.

Neil, A secondary character of the strip. Neil is a 20-something Graphic Designer with dark skin, always seen wearing a blue shirt (untucked of course). While definitely less noticeable than Nix, Neil is a good-hearted employee who just happens to have no interest in his work. Often lured into participating in Nix's various plots, Neil is generally the 'Voice of Reason' who pulls Nix back to reality at the last possible moment.

The Boss, The Boss is a stereotypical embodiment of the mid-50's sexist and incompetent male leader. Always seen wearing a pea-soup green suit and sporting a mustache and gull-wing hair style. Having made a career out of 'failing upwards' the Boss is grossly incompetent and unable to perform even the most rudimentary of tasks. Typically the Boss does little to no work and simply spends his time trying to quash any insurrection which may be forming below him. A somewhat 'Evil' character, the Boss often serves as an antagonist to other characters in the strip.

Marketing Demon, Secondary character. Always seen wearing a grey suit, also has three heads, red hair/eyes and horns. The Marketing Demon got a job at Oaksoft after Hell began downsizing it's workforce for cheaper, Mexican labour. The Marketing Demon like the Boss serves mainly as an antagonist to other characters.

Shifty-Joe, Stereotypical 80's Business-Sleaze. Shifty-Joe has blond hair in an out of style Ponytail, a large chin and a knowing smirk on his face at all times. Shifty-Joe first appeared in the "Buying a New Server" story-arc and has returned many times since in the attempt to fill some niche with shoddy merchandise or questionable business ethics.

Extras, Extras are the other generic characters in the strip. They usually feature bland facial features and circular heads, they are mostly indistinguishable from one-another. Aside from serving as unwitting pawns (and occasionally victims) in the myriad schemes circling Oaksoft at any given time, they are also intended as a satirical commentary on the conformist ideals behind big business and the post secondary institutions that fill their ranks.

Themes

Digital Purgatory generally follows the antics of Nix and Neil in their attempts to find their place in the business world while commenting on political, business and pop-culture related phenomenon occurring in present day society.

in strip #59 Reservoir dogs is parodied.

External links

Digital Purgatory web site

Snafu Comics web site

This Comic Sucks web site

Teh Gewd Guyz web site