(Quantity)squared

(quantity)² is an entertaining comic drawn by Katherine Harnack, and published in the California Aggie during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 school years.

The name comes from the term used in mathematics to describe when everything inside a set of parentheses is squared. It is also a play on words, where the characters and jokes in the comic are square. Miss Harnack is a self-proclaimed nerd and member of Davis Anime Club. Like any other comic artist for the Aggie, she does appreciate any e-mail from those who enjoy her comic. Her comics, as well as other 'art,' can be found on her deviantART page here. A compilation of her comics is available for sale at the UC Davis Bookstore.

• Cowlick: The typical UC Davis student, apparently his real name. He is currently in possession of a V-Card.
  

• 1Up: A typical video game nerd whose real name is John Hochburg. He too is currently in possession of a V-Card.
  

• Demi: The serious academic archetype character. V-Card status is unknown.
  

• Stoic: A play on words, this character is sheerly unshakable. V-Card status is unknown, and given her unreadable nature, may never be known.
  

• Seamus: An Irish exchange student. To help indicate the accent, Seamus' speech bubbles contain a different font, and the spelling follows European English rules, i.e: honour.
  

• Blake the Freshman: A lost and pathetic-looking freshman. Since UC Davis accepted far more students than it has beds for in 2006, Blake is living in a very crowded dorm.
  

• Lissa: 1Up's older sister. She is a foxy version of him, but with more social skills.
  

• Stan: Lissa's fiancé and a lvl 12 Ranger.
  

• The Nameless Professor: A professor that the gang seems to have regardless of what the course is.
  

• Nudist Uncle Roy: 1Up's uncle who is also a nudist.

Everything but the speech bubbles are sketched, inked, and grayscaled on paper with Micron pens, Sharpies, and Prismacolor markers. After being scanned into a computer, the speech bubbles are added with an inexpensive program called Comic Life Deluxe.

On October 12th, 2007, Harnack received an email from Eddie Lee, the editor of the California Aggie, telling her that (quantity)² would not be published in the newspaper for it's third year (Harnack's senior year at UC Davis). Harnack emailed him back asking for a reason why the comic was rejected; as of yet no response has been given. A copy of her application portfolio can be found here.

Additions?

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2007-01-16 13:52:46   Something funky with lists. —DavidPoole

2007-01-21 12:50:04   I worked on the list, and it seems okay now. Thanks for the adding the picture! —KatherineHarnack