We’ve all heard the term “jumping the shark” (thanks to Eric Burns and Websnark). Well, I’ve just seen an instance of a webcomic that tried to jump the shark, missed, and was then chewed upon by the shark. I half expect the shark to develop food poisoning and spit out the remnants of the comic in question because of the utter lunacy of the situation. The comic in question is College Roomies from Hell, a comic that was once a favorite of mine but that lost me as it started dwelling more and more on depressing, angst-filled storylines rather than the mixture of story and humor that had pulled me in eight years ago.

College Roomies from Hell initially was the story of three teenagers who were forced to become roommates when their dormitory was destroyed in a natural gas explosion. Two months into the comic, Maritza Campos introduced three female roommates living next door, and the comic evolved slowly from a gag-a-day strip and into more of an episodic format. It was during this time that the cast solidified and became more distinct. Dave was a neurotic yet studious student who quickly became a fan favorite as he pursued the equally-studious and even more paranoid Margaret. Mike was a cocky manipulative bastard who ended up being the driving force behind the Roomies, and Marsha his attractive and exceedingly jealous girlfriend. Roger was a quirky and bizarre nerd who thrived on insanity. And rounding out the bunch was April, seemingly the “normal” roommate of the bunch who had a tendency of talking to herself and answering herself.

The dynamic between the characters was the strip’s strongest point. And as this dynamic started to break apart as Campos expanded upon the character of April, sending her spiraling further and further down in a orgy of jealousy and lust for Mike (who wanted nothing to do with her) until finally Campos had April drive a butcher knife through Mike’s sternum, killing him and shattering the comic as a whole. As a critic, I applauded the move. It was bold, unexpected, and would change the face of the comic forever. As a reader and a fan of the original character dynamic, I mourned and finally gave up reading. Fortunately, several of my contacts continued reading, and regaled me with various tidbits of the comic that seemed so surreal as to be in the same category as fanfiction. I’m not talking about some of the truly inspired fanfictions either. I mean the stuff that drips of Mary Sue Syndrome and is replete with idiot-plots.

So, what happened to result in sharks gnawing at CRfH’s midsection? What could drag me out of my steadfast refusal to read the strip and delve into a half-year of archives? It seems that Campos has brought back the central character of the comic as a zombie. Yes, you heard me right, after killing Mike off, she’s returned him as a decomposing, green-skinned zombie. If this sounds at all familiar, that’s because another comic did it far better; Scary Go Round, which had red-haired-heroine Shelly offed spontaneously, resurrected by the Devil as a zombie, and then dwell in an undead state until finally trying to devour the brain of her boss, being zapped by lighting, and like Frankenstein’s monster being brought into the land of the living. SGR’s version is quite imaginative and unique, which is no doubt the reason why Campos has seemingly lifted elements of that story and inserted it into her own comic.

I admit that after Campos killed Mike, I suspected that he would not remain dead forever (even though that would have been even more daring, to kill off a main character and have him or her remain dead). The first hints of Mike’s return appeared several months ago when Mike appeared in a limbo-like environment being pursued by a huge number of demons and finally yanking the blade from his chest, having it turn into a fiery sword, and cutting down several of the demons that had been after him. It was strongly suggested that Mike was in fact Michael, one of the arch-angels of the Christian mythos. And thus we had the first true hint that CRfH was going to suffer an attack of what would be called Mary Sue-itis if this were a fanfic rather than a story using original characters.

Added to the idiot plot is the nerfing of Dave, who is now suffering nosebleeds and blinding headaches whenever he uses his laser-vision (for those of you who don’t read the comic, basically think “Cyclops” from X-Men, but with control over the blasts… and yes, this is yet another example of unimaginative borrowing from other genres). The plot is strongly hinting that something was done during the slow-paced and tedious DunDun Island storyline, which ignores the fact Dave was healed of gunshot wounds and the like by a “holy light” back in a confrontation with a Satan-possessed werecoyote (don’t ask, it’s too long a story to get into). Obviously, God (or whatever power that was) was unable to undo whatever subtle alterations were done to Dave, despite the fact that he was healed of far more visible injuries. Yes, it doesn’t make any sense from my end of the keyboard either. It’s obvious that Campos is trying to rein in Dave, who she made overpowered in previous stories, while adding to the pathos of the story.

Mike’s return as a zombie is a non-issue for most of the cast. Blue, Mike’s younger sister, is absolutely overjoyed to see her brother is back, even if he’s a rotting corpse. Margaret is thrilled, despite the fact that Mike was brought back using dark arts. Of all the Roomies, it’s Dave who freaks out because his roommate is now a shambling corpse who finds it absolutely hilarious to jump out of the elevator and scare him half to death.

Well, okay. Maybe that part was funny, I’ll give her that much.

Still, I’m finding myself once again identifying with Dave… not because I find him sympathetic or the like (my apathy for the cast is very much still in place), but out of a sense of horror as I find the metaphoric reflection between an undead Mike shambling from the grave and a comic that has continued on far past the point that it should be put to rest. Once upon a time, I wanted this comic to continue into the next decade at least. I felt the group dynamic was the biggest strength of the comic and that the interactions between the cast helped drive the plot forward. CRfH was a character-oriented comic.

That’s changed. Campos has tried hard to turn her comic into an epic drama, and suffered an epic fail in doing so. I felt that if she’d returned to what worked so well, with shorter character-driven stories and a decent balance between humor and drama, then the comic could have recaptured that early greatness that inspired so many fans. I was wrong. The Fonz has gotten onto his waterskis, headed toward the ramp… and fumbled, tumbling into the water before the oncoming great white. There is blood in the water, and I cannot think of anything that can save this comic from the shredded corpse it has become. And while new readers may very well enjoy the comic for what it is now, anyone who truly enjoyed the early works of Campos will no doubt be shaking their heads sadly and wishing that as Mike was lowered into the grave, Campos had had the dignity to bring the comic to a close. Instead, we’re left to watch in horror at the ongoing train wreck that was College Roomies from Hell.