NewsPaper

The El Goonish Shive NewsPaper, commonly referred to as EGS:NP, is a side-comic that basically functions as a repository for story-arc-sized filler material. EGS:NP has not always been published alongside the main comic: for example, it started two years later (in February 2004) and it took a break from February 2010 (when Dan placed it on 'indefinite hiatus' to concentrate on the story comics) to July 2014 (after which it was restarted after a successful Patreon campaign). The 2010 hiatus had been planned to be a week long; fan queries prompted a Q&A session in 2011, an updated commentary on the comic that provided the end point of the earlier run, and a visual representation of bunnies (a self-description for the EGS fan community) driving away the Gods of Curling (entities blamed for the hiatus in the last NP before it) in the first comic of the restart.

Canonicity[]

Due to the filler nature of the NP comics, how canon a particular NP story arc is can vary wildly. Some, such as Not a Date at the Mall, provide valuable character development in the Main Universe and are generally considered canon. Others like Goonmanji, while apparently taking place in the main universe, are obviously not in continuity. Then there are those that take place in their own separate universe (Blank Check for Weirdness for example), whose continuity with the canon is dependent on how one views different universes to be treated in EGS. And of course, all the gray area in between. The golden rule is that if a NP storyline is mentioned in the main story,^[1] or has its canonical status (sometimes indicated by an embedded image of Grace firing a cannon) acknowledged in its opening commentary,^[2] it officially becomes canon. "Assorted" or "standalone" strips are considered to have "vague canon" status.^[3]

There is also list of canon NP stories in Q&A 7.^[4] Of course, since that list was made in June 2016, it is out of date.

On May 10 or 11, 2022, Dan said that most of the then-recent NP storylines are potentially canon, though he doesn't want to commit to those storylines fitting in the canon timeline.^[5]

Q&A[]

Some NP storylines are of the same canonicity status as the question and answer sessions of the main story section: they are out of continuity^[6] and not considered part of canon, but the explanations in them are canonical.^[7]

Color[]

While main story switches between color and grayscale, NewsPaper is so far completely grayscale.

Story arc versus story line[]

Unlike the main story, which has both arcs and story lines, NewsPaper has only one level of structure. Dan usually calls it a "story line".^[8] This wiki calls it a story arc.

Story arcs[]

References[]

↑ EGS:NP Comic for 2004-06-22 ("Goonmanji - Part 1")
↑ EGS:NP Comic for 2014-09-21 ("Playing With Dolls - Part 21")
↑ EGS:NP Comic for 2015-05-20
↑ EGS Main Story Comic for 2016-06-24
↑ Reddit post
↑ EGS Main Story Comic for 2011-07-29
↑ EGS:NP Comic for 2015-03-30
↑ EGS:NP Comic for 2015-02-23

[1] EGS:NP Comic for 2004-06-22 ("Goonmanji - Part 1")

[2] EGS:NP Comic for 2014-09-21 ("Playing With Dolls - Part 21")

[3] EGS:NP Comic for 2015-05-20

[4] EGS Main Story Comic for 2016-06-24

[5] Reddit post

[6] EGS Main Story Comic for 2011-07-29

[7] EGS:NP Comic for 2015-03-30

[8] EGS:NP Comic for 2015-02-23

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