Triangle and Robert

Triangle and Robert is a webcomic by Patrick Shaughnessy that ran from August 1999 to September 2007. It is about the adventures of two polygons, an equilateral triangle named 'Triangle', and a rhombus named 'Robert'.
As Patrick Shaughnessy, appearing in the strip as 'the Cartoonist', has explained on many occasions, he can't draw, and he makes up the story as he goes along. All of the characters are simple shapes that he creates using a cheap paint program. More complicated objects are represented by simpler stand-ins (a sheep, for instance, appears as a rectangular placeholder marked "Insert Sheep") or not represented at all. The appeal of the strip seems to lie chiefly in its sophisticated humor, which is rife with popular culture references and self-reference.
"Triangle and Robert" takes place in a world in which the dominant species is a race of polygons. This world has a rich archaeological history, with evidence of other past dominant races, including humans. The world is located in a universe whose basic physical structure is one of pudding, and "cuisine magic" plays an important role. The chief keepers of cuisine magic are the 'sentries', one for each major food group.
The main plot centers on a struggle over which species will continue to dominate Triangle and Robert's world. The adventures depicted take place during a prophesied 'Time of the Oval", an epochal turning point during which control of the planet is likely to shift. Species that seem to be in the running for dominance include polygons, sheep, possibly humans, pharmaceuticals, and monosodium glutamate.
A major theme of "Triangle and Robert" involves the cartoonist and his relation to his creations. This is sometimes manifest as bickering between characters in the strip and the cartoonist over his writing and drawing skills. More significantly, there are allusions to unrest in the world of polygons over how poorly they are drawn. Demonstrations are sometimes held in an effort to get rid of the cartoonist and return to a world free from his artistic limitations. On one occasion, Triangle confronted this issue of creator vs. creation by beginning his own comic strip, "Dot and Other Dot", but the characters soon escaped his control, and began their own comic, "Cartoonist Guy" – who, in turn, created his own strip, "The Beforings", which may or may not have led to the Beforings creating the universe of pudding in which Triangle and Robert currently live. This ontological dispute was eventually abandoned when Triangle and Robert were called away on another wacky adventure.
Awards.
"Triangle and Robert" won Best Minimalist Comic in the 2001 Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards.