Lookin' Bright

Lookin' Bright is a satirical webcomic series created by American cartoonist Jacob Elmer. The style is leaned more to the slice of life category but would often use themes of black comedy as well as fourth wall break humor, self-deprecation and satirizing traditional newspaper comic strips. The strip is a reboot of Elmer's previous comic A Furry Future.

Premise
The comic is set in Phoenix, Arizona and is about four friends, Ricky, Bryan, Kaylee, and Sparky living in an apartment complex ran by their odd landlord, Mr.Burns.

Main protagonists

 * Richard "Ricky" Roofus - A skunk and the main protagonist of the series. Ricky is a wannabe comedian and is also known for his odd sense of humor and pulling wisecracks on his friends. Despite his joking around, Ricky is the more level headed character of the series.
 * Bryan Dautrive - The leading human character, and the deuteragonist of the series. Bryan is Ricky's best friend from high school, who works as a white-collar office worker. He is known best for his ignorant personality, as well as unhealthy alcohol addiction and short temper.
 * Kaylee Bronson - A female otter who is a friend of Ricky and Bryan, as they known each other since college. Kaylee works as a second-grade school teacher, which is a stressful job for her as the students would often rebel against her.
 * Sarah "Sparky" Raccoon - A female raccoon who is a good friend and neighbor to Ricky. Sparky is an odd, ditzy, and least intelligent albeit sweet-natured and an aspiring rock musician. She has a fondness for her electric guitar. She is often the one making fourth wall jokes, and her stupidity constantly annoys Bryan. It is implied that Sparky was named after Charles Schulz.

Secondary characters

 * Clint Burns - The landlord of the apartment complex, Ricky and his friends live in. He has been known to be a megalomaniac and sometimes seen to be rude and unpleasant.
 * Joey Simpson -A silver fox and one of Kaylee's students. He was raised by his two lesbian mothers, and he hangs out with his best friend, Keith. Joey's last name comes from D.C. Simpson.
 * Keith Burns - Clint's imaginative son, and Joey's best friend. He is one of the two leading characters in the Joey and Keith spin-off. He is the most rebellious student in Kaylee's class, often causing trouble with Joey. Keith is also an aspiring artist.
 *  Rebecca "Becky" Bronson -Kaylee's beloved niece. After her father was arrested, she has been sent to live with her aunt in Arizona. Becky is a seemingly innocent child and has very little common sense.
 *  Melissa Burns -Clint's 4th wife and Keith's mother.
 * Fox-Jake The fursona of the artist Jacob Elmer who appears self-reflexively as an arctic fox in the strip. It only occasionally appears when Sparky makes a fourth wall joke.

Influences
The comic's style and humor are inspired by several webcomics and comic strips. Most notably Calvin and Hobbes, Pearls Before Swine, Transmission, Sabrina Online, Ozy and Millie and Woods For The Trees. Matt Groening's comic strip Life in Hell was a huge influence to Lookin' Bright, for its experimentation on panel structure as well as the use of black comedy. Gary Larson's The Far Side was also an inspiration for the single panel strips.

Elmer also sites King of the Hill as an influence. Mostly for the show's slice of life and realistic tone.