Why You Should Read “Ensign Sue Must Die”

 

Most fiction readers, writers, watchers, or anyone that has ever experienced fanfiction in any sense probably recognized the term “Mary Sue”. For those of you that don’t recognize the term, a Mary Sue, or the male equivalent Gary Stu, is a character that is usually on-dimensional, with little or no character flaws, who never seems to be capable of failing at anything, and is in every way, annoying! Such a character is also commonly an insertion of an idealized version of the author themselves, that allows them to live some sort of fantasy through the character. I realize that this is not the best explanation, but if you were to see a Mary Sue in action, you would understand exactly what I am talking about, and even now perhaps, you are remembering a character rubbing you the wrong way because of these reasons. If you have had such an encounter with a fictional character, or have had repeat run-ins with the Sue, I insist that you check out the webcomic Ensign Sue Must Die by Kevin Bolk and Clare Moseley, and its two sequels Ensign Two: the Wrath of Sue and Ensign Three: Crisis of Infinite Sues.

To give a brief overview of the series without spoiling much, the series is initially set in the Star Trek universe that has been established in the new J.J. Abrams films, so it is also a treat for Trekkers! The series follow the crew as they come into contact with a Mary Sue and have to deal with the resulting problems that come with having her on the Enterprise. As the series progresses, the crew travels into different “dimensions,” which are naturally other massive pop-culture franchises, and comes into contact with other kings of nerd culture including the X-men, Sherlock, the Justice League, and The Doctor as the threat of the Sues grows. The result is a series that is hilarious for multiple fandoms and is also well illustrated and brilliantly written.

If you are geek in anyway, you should go read the series now, and if you aren’t you should give it a look anyway. Kevin Bolk’s other webcomics are equally funny and nerdy and I encourage people to check those out as well. You can find all of them in the links provided below. I hope you all give them a look and give this guy the fans that he deserves!

The start of Ensign Sue Must Die: http://interrobangstudios.com/comics-display.php?strip_id=989

Kevin Bolk’s Deviantart Page: http://kevinbolk.deviantart.com/

Kevin Bolk’s other Comics on Interrobang Studios’ Page: http://www.interrobangstudios.com/webcomics.php