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'''<nowiki>#53</nowiki>''' (also known as ''"Number 53"'') is a [[webcomic]] started on [[January 3]], [[2006]], by '''Daniel Creamer'''. Updates are weekly and it is hosted by [[Blogspot]].

==Plot==
===Official summary===
The tagline is:
:''"The Webcomic for starving university students everywhere"''

The comic introduces the unnamed protagonist as a first-year [[University]] [[undergraduate]] and follows him through his oft-comical experiences settling into the University setting, particularly college social factors and elements of boarding, both foreign to him. The timeline is decompressed, with 1 #53 week having elapsed between the 19th update and the comic's inception.

The author, Creamer, is a first-year [[University]] student studying a [[Bachelor's Degree|Bachelor's]] [[honors]] course in [[Information Technology]] at the [[Queensland University of Technology]]. It can be said that #53's protagonist is the digital projection of Creamer himself, though incidents appearing in the comic are not all analogous with his own.

At present the comic is yet to introduce any element of third-person [[narration]], with most perceptions of the protagonists experiences being drawn from his speech and the comic's [[art]]. This is not especially unusual and makes for the observer's more involved identification with the protagonist.

==Characters==
===Main characters===

The chief protagonist is a slightly [[Neurosis|neurotic]], under-confident and worrysome teen, anxious about his new University environment, which admittedly he has difficulty adjusting to. He is also the [[Nerd|nerdy]] type, expressing interest in [[network]] [[gaming]] and is an avid computer user. He appears to be rather reserved and is only ever regularly accompanied by another unnamed accomplice, his roommate. Said accomplice is infinitely more [[streetwise]] and informed regarding the city/University sphere and offers advice and guidance, though (comically) is not always helpful. As a result of their experiential differences, the chief protagonist often finds his accomplice's mannerisms at odds with his own.

Nineteen strips into #53, the chief protagonist has experienced the following extraordinary events:
* Being bitten by a city [[hobo]],
* Having a personal [[vendetta]] formed against him by a highly pedantic and temperamental [[bus]] driver,
* Severe [[insomnia]] and subsequent [[caffiene]]-loading, and
* Locking himself out of his boarding room at the University.

==Art==
===Background information===
<nowiki>#53</nowiki> is edited using [[Macromedia Flash|Flash]] and sketched using a [[Wacom#Graphire|Wacom Graphire]] 3 tablet.

The artistic style of #53 is largely simplistic and dichromatic (black & white), making for a bold and undistracting focus on key elements of the comic. Superfluous details, especially in the backgrounds are often ignored or left out entirely. #53 has, since its inception, gone through distinct stages in artistic style.
===Stage 1: Learning experiences===
<nowiki>#53's</nowiki> first eight strips (all in [[January]]) were entitled ''"Learning Experiences Parts I-VIII"'' in respective order. As such titles suggest, this was a time that Creamer used to "find his feet" in employing a suitable style for #53. Compared with the style of Stage 2, the classic strips were more clean-cut and wider-angled in viewing with less contrast and focus on central characters.

===Continuation of Stage 1===
Strips 009-014 continued the simplistic (though far from minimalisitic) style employed in "Learning Experiences", with some observable changes including increased background detailing and a wider frame. These changes would be made obsolete by the dramatic changes seen in Stage 2.

===Stage 2===
Strip 015 saw a major revolution in the artistic style of #53. Abandoning the square, clean-cut art seen in previous strips, Creamer opted for a smoother, bolder finish with exaggerated emphasis on certain features and a considerable amount of "zoom in" on the central happenings. Dichromatism was retained and further exacerbated with increased [[contrast]] and shadowing. This style also further excluded superfluous background detail, placing further emphasis on the characters. Creamer exploited this style change in successfully bettering the degree of emotional emphasis conveyed by the characters.

==Etymology==
The relevance of the comic's title was revealed in strip 007. #53 is the number of the protagonist's boarding room in the [[University]] he attends.

==Hosting and page layout==
<nowiki>#53</nowiki> is hosted by [[Blogspot]] and entries are in the form of a typical [[blog]] update, text included. Beneath the new strip Creamer includes personal reflections on it as well as unrelated blog-like updates regarding his personal affairs. Entries are concluded with 2-4 lines of song [[lyrics]]. As a result of exploiting Blogspot, #53 has an easily-syndicated [[RSS]] feed.
==External links==
*[http://number53.blogspot.com #53 Webcomic]
*[http://number53.blogspot.com/atom.xml #53 RSS feed]
*[http://www.thewebcomiclist.com/p/6405/53 #53 at The Webcomics List.com]

{{wikipedia|Number 53 (webcomic)}}

[[Category:Webcomics]]

Number 53 - Revision history

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