Rodney left precisely because Fred wanted to do less goofy comedy. I've gone back and purchased the first two compilations, and they're rather thick. There's a

Rodney left precisely because Fred wanted to do less goofy comedy. I've gone back and purchased the first two compilations, and they're rather thick. There's a clear transition when Fred switches from webcomic style panel layouts to a clear full page manga layout. There are little Piro joke comics under every one of the web-style comics just to fill the gap, and the storylines are really all over the place thematically. Once they parted ways, things become way more coherent, if a bit boring for folks who made the jump over from the Bench comics that MT did for Penny Arcade.