Who makes these married-life comics
These comics come from Legacy Control, a webcomic by the artist Javis A. Ray. Every strip carries the same footer: the address legacy-control.com and a copyright line running from 2010 to 2017. The stars are a married couple, the anxious, joke-obsessed Aggro and his patient, unimpressed wife Tess, with occasional visits from a dark-haired best friend in a blue T-shirt and a few strange neighbours.
The humour is adult and often cheeky. Many strips poke fun at sex, bodies and bathroom habits, but just as many are about very ordinary married worries: buying a house, watching the news, arguing about who is always right, or promising to spend more quality time together. Javis has described the odd feeling of being complimented on his wife's looks, adding that "I had no part in her attractiveness", and that self-mocking voice runs through the whole series.
What keeps the comics warm is that Tess usually wins. Aggro boasts, panics and schemes; she raises an eyebrow and gets the last word. The jokes work because the couple clearly like each other.
The opening strip sets the tone. Tess strikes a provocative pose while Aggro insists he has too much to do today to be distracted, and she pretends she has no idea what he means.
Compliments, worries and growing up
Strangers keep congratulating Aggro on how attractive his wife is, and he keeps awkwardly saying thanks. By the final panel the compliments have grown into a chanting crowd while Tess looks on, plainly uncomfortable. It is the comic version of Javis's own complaint about taking credit for his wife's looks.
Tess suggests getting a little wild like when they were younger, and the two race around the back yard in their underwear. A neighbour hears the noise and asks her husband to call animal control because a coyote is attacking a woman. The punchline is a gentle reminder that grown-up fun looks different from the outside.
Aggro sits alone in the dark worrying about life, and Tess tells him it will all work out. He protests that life does not work out for everyone. Her answer, that everyone dies anyway so in a sense everything works out, leaves him speechless.
Tess says Aggro invents things to be afraid of, and he lectures her that the world is a scary place and fear means you are paying attention. Then, as she heads to bed, he begs her to check under it first. The strip neatly flips his tough talk.
Aggro tells Tess she is already pretty and does not need so long to get ready. The next panel shows him in a shower cap with cucumber slices on his eyes, a toothbrush in his mouth and tweezers in hand, claiming he cares about his appearance. Tess's flat stare does the rest.
Aggro's friend argues that Easter is scarier than Halloween: a man rises from the dead, and a human-sized rodent sneaks into houses to hide stolen eggs. Told that way, the holiday does sound strange. It is one of several strips where the friend's odd logic drives the joke.
Captions describe the strange feelings of being a grown-up: the anxiety of waiting to hear if your bid on a house was accepted, the joy when it is, and then the even bigger panic when you realise you now own a house. Anyone who has signed a mortgage will recognise all three faces.
Aggro tries astral projection while Tess heads to the shower. His glowing spirit body does manage to leave, and it goes straight to watch her. Tess's reaction and his anatomical observation about his astral form make this one of the cheekier strips.
Aggro proudly announces that he did a random act of kindness and told no one. Tess points out that buying himself a video game does not count, and that he just told her. He then admits he made a comic about it too.
At a gathering, Aggro decides a grinning stranger is either just super happy or a murderer. Tess calls him judgmental. His reply, that there is no reason the man could not be both, leaves her looking nervously over her shoulder.
Romance, the honest version
Tess, in lingerie, says she is going to freshen up. When Aggro asks what that actually means, she lists the least romantic tasks imaginable. He declares it the most turned off he has ever been.
Tess complains that Aggro always has to be right. He says he is all for healthy debate as long as they agree he is right, and she responds by lifting him over her head. It is a funny picture of how marital arguments can feel.
Aggro clutches his pillow, chanting that he wants to wake up from a nightmare. Tess tells him he is not dreaming; he is watching the news. He switches to chanting that he wants to fall asleep.
Tess warns Aggro that he will regret missing opportunities if he never goes out. He replies that self-loathing is his resting state, so regret comes easily. The final close-up of his face shows exactly what he means.
Aggro threatens that his legal team will take every penny if Tess ever leaves. Under her stare, the legal team shrinks to a guy whose cousin knows a lawyer, and then to an image search for "sexy lawyer costumes". He ends by pleading with her never to leave.
A blunt sex joke: Aggro says he feels weird doing something private while Tess is home, then does it anyway because she is there. Her shocked face and his claim that it is "a good weird" carry the gag. It is one of the strips that shows why the series is aimed at adults.
Tess asks if Aggro would ever consider a vasectomy. He refuses, claiming humanity will need him to repopulate after the apocalypse. When she points out she could help too, he dismisses the idea in favour of his imaginary harem, and her expression says how well that went.
The couple admit they have hardly seen each other lately and promise to spend quality time together every day. The last panel shows how that promise usually works out for tired couples: both of them fast asleep in bed.
Aggro's friend shows him the most beautiful picture of Tess he has ever seen, except it is not Tess. The friend used a face-swap app on a photo of her brother. Aggro says he is processing a lot of confusing feelings.
Friends, neighbours and strange visitors
The friend asks where Aggro is, and Tess says he has been in the bathroom for hours. The friend declares he has fallen victim to "Stankholm syndrome", a pun on Stockholm syndrome. Inside, Aggro calmly insists it is not so bad once you give it a chance.
Three men compare scars. A bearded giant blames a bear attack and a young man in a cap blames gunshots. Aggro's embarrassing explanation earns him two loud "daaamn"s.
Tess asks who the strange man in their living room is. Aggro explains that crowdfunding is out, so he found a single patron instead, named Pete. Pete's only request involves butter and turning out the lights, and Aggro seems fine with it.
Tess tells Aggro to stop watching the news if it causes him so much anxiety. He agrees, and the next panel shows the two sitting in silence. In the final frame he admits his imagination is much worse.
Tess, sunbathing with a drink, asks why Aggro is not working on his comic. He says he will not get much traffic today anyway. She asks how that is different from other days, and then notices his bandaged arm from playing with fireworks.
Aggro says he can always tell Tess is drunk when she starts dancing sexily. She shoots back that he is drunk too and that she can drink him under the table. She then proves it, and he ends up with hearts in his eyes.
Aggro starts to tell Tess about a joke idea that might be a little much. She tells him not to do it before he has even explained it. He agrees she is right, a short strip about how well long-term partners know each other.
Tess is furious and asks if Aggro knows where he is sleeping tonight. His answer, in bed with her, turns out to be correct. The last panel shows them sleeping side by side, still annoyed but together.
Aggro's friend wonders aloud about couples faking it in bed. Aggro insists Tess would never fake anything with him and asks her to confirm. Her innocent question back to him gives the joke a sharp twist at his expense.
A repairman hands Aggro the bill for fixing a window, adding that he apologises for whatever he may have witnessed. At the bottom of the invoice is a "mental-trauma" fee. Aggro agrees it is more than fair.
Aggro promises Tess that fame will never change him, even when crowds of fans chase him. Tess replies that he should let it change him, since she would be happy to gamble on getting someone better. It is classic Tess: deadpan and quick.
Tess bets that Aggro cannot go a whole day without saying something inappropriate. He insists he can and that she will eat her words. When she asks which words, his answer loses the bet on the spot.
A scene staged like a disaster film: the couple claim everything they loved is gone and they must do whatever it takes to survive. Aggro picks up a hammer to raid the neighbours, until Tess finds more coffee in the cupboard. They still need creamer, though.
Aggro complains about "phantom calls" all day, and a pink rabbit-like creature sympathises. It turns out a literal ghost keeps calling to ask him to join it in haunting the living. His real complaint is that it is using up his phone minutes.
Jokes about the comic itself
Tess reads an online review calling the comic sophomoric, trite, unoriginal, overly sexual and dumb. Aggro reveals he wrote it himself as reverse psychology. Tess admits the review is not wrong, which he takes as a compliment.
Tess asks if her very short dress is appropriate, and Aggro enthusiastically says yes, even the part where it rides up. She declares that this is exactly why he is not allowed to choose her outfits. He thought he was choosing what she would wear in, not out.
Tess asks why Aggro hates queues so much. He says lines are like jail without bars, keeping him trapped by the thing he hates most. The answer, other humans, comes as the people around them glare.
Aggro tells his friend he is very drunk. The friend says he has a foolproof test: if he is too drunk to realise he is drunk, then he is really drunk. Therefore, he concludes while sitting inside a fish tank, he has never been drunk.
Aggro tells a story he thinks is hilarious, but Tess does not laugh. She suggests they need a signal so she knows when he is trying to be funny. When he looks hurt, she finally laughs at that.
At a party, Tess asks why every man stares at her when she walks into a room. Aggro tells her they are picturing her naked. She gets it, and then winks that women do that too, while the women in the background eye him up.
Why couple comics are so popular
Comics about relationships are widely shared online, partly because they turn private, slightly embarrassing moments into something everyone recognises. Strips like these say out loud what many couples think but rarely admit: that love includes boredom, bad jokes, bathroom habits and plenty of eye-rolling.
Legacy Control sits at the cheekier end of the genre. If you prefer gentler humour, the related articles below collect other artists who draw everyday life as a couple.
Sources: all comics by Javis A. Ray, Legacy Control (credits and character names taken from the strips themselves).
COMMENTS