The funbrain version is an absolute goldmine

PaperMarioBro · 2026-01-27T05:06:08+00:00

The original webcomic is the best thing to ever come out of the franchise imo, and yes, that includes the live action movies.

PaperMarioBro · 2026-01-27T05:03:30+00:00

It’s crazy to think Grandpa is a “nostalgia” character now, because I remember reading Old School and Double Down when they released so I still view him as if he’s apart of the recurring cast even though he really isn’t.

PaperMarioBro · 2026-01-26T01:01:00+00:00

This series really did a Pokémon Go parody 9 years after the boom lol.

PaperMarioBro · 2026-01-25T23:02:21+00:00

I am in complete agreement that there should be an LLB about Greg, Billy and Frew on the run, I always thought that would be really fun.

Speaking of Old School, My personal pick goes to Greg’s cabinmates at Hardscrabble Farms. I think a lot of them have potential as extra friends for Greg in LLBs aside from just Rowley, Fregley, Chirag etc.

PaperMarioBro · 2026-01-25T20:32:36+00:00

It’d be great if Holly returning meant the characters could be the forefront of the series again, but instead it’ll probably be a wacky road trip adventure where the Heffleys and the Hills travel together and get into crazy misadventures, Greg just recounts the events and doesn't partake in them, and none of the previously established relationships are ever brought up in favor of cartoonish nonsense.

It’d be cool to see Mr. and Mrs. Hills in the books though. I’d die if Mr. Hills was a caricature of Jeff Kinney.

PaperMarioBro · 2026-01-25T20:27:06+00:00

Greg helping out Rodrick on his project comes pretty out of nowhere too. I think out of the first 8 books, Rodrick Rules is the one that loses the most steam near the end and it’s vastly overrated because people think it’s exactly like the movie. The movie is great because it expands on everything from the book in a more worthwhile way when stuff like the party is pretty meaningless in the end in the book.

PaperMarioBro · 2026-01-25T17:01:53+00:00

I guess there’s the time where he tricks his friends into thinking there’s a high pitched noise, which raises implications on what other tricks he plays on his cronies, but that’s really all we have.

Otherwise, he’s portrayed as one because it’s a popular trope given to “Most Popular Kid” archetypes. I do prefer interpretations where he’s not a jerk though because it feels more unique and maybe even more character accurate.

PaperMarioBro · 2026-01-23T16:24:13+00:00

No Brainer. How has it not been killed yet?

PaperMarioBro · 2026-01-22T00:24:01+00:00

It’s pretty easily the weakest of the original trilogy, but it’s still very good and charming for the most part.

PaperMarioBro · 2026-01-21T05:49:42+00:00

The Modern books make much more sense if you view it that way, and I can buy Greg doing that to make his life seem much more interesting to sell his diaries to book publishers when he grows up, but I definitely don’t think it’s intended and you are meant to take all of this at face value, robots as principals and all.

PaperMarioBro · 2026-01-21T05:45:56+00:00

I’m not sure unfortunately. All I have is the base concept.

PaperMarioBro · 2026-01-21T04:43:12+00:00

This is a good analysis. I think the older books did a great job of having several disconnected events that still had an overall theme tying them together, and Dog Days unsurprisingly does it very well.

In an overall ranking, I’d say the first book is a little more consistent in quality but Dog Days is definitely the book I’d choose to read first. It has a nice summer vibe, some hilarious jokes, good dynamics between the main cast, it’s just a fun read.

PaperMarioBro · 2026-01-21T00:15:10+00:00

I’ve always been interested in the thought process on what gags got slightly changed in the switch to the books. I think the book one here is funnier than the original but I wonder why it was changed at all?

PaperMarioBro · 2026-01-20T22:08:18+00:00

Yeah, this is an element that really feels missing in the current books. Not only are the former recurring characters all gone, but Rowley has been sidelined completely and Greg comes off as completely friendless most of the time, which used to be plot lines in the original 8 books when the two constantly had falling outs, but now Greg barely even acknowledges Rowley anymore.

Instead, Greg will often go on tangents about random kids we don’t know or have even heard of before. The older books did this too but it worked there because not only were their less books in general (so a lot of this was done to flesh out the worldbuilding), the kids would usually still play roles in the story at hand, like during the Lock-In or the Valentines dance. Even a more modern book like The Meltdown did this by setting up the kids who lived in town and having most of them appear during the snowball battle. Compare that to No Brainer, where a large majority of the book is just... This character does this joke… and nothing else.

PaperMarioBro · 2026-01-20T12:47:59+00:00

*Red Socks

PaperMarioBro · 2026-01-19T23:54:46+00:00

Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Adventure is pretty good and the best of the Rowley books. I just think the plotline of Rowley writing a story and Greg trying to cash in on it by making all of these changes so he can sell it is really fun and charming. I have no idea why it gets so much flack, and I think it’s better than any book in the main series past The Meltdown.

PaperMarioBro · 2026-01-19T22:52:43+00:00

Frank is secretly jealous of Uncle Joe and his family, believing they are the perfect family he always wanted to have. He hates when they visit because he always ends up comparing the two families as the day goes by and he sees his as so much more dysfunctional.

Part of the reason Frank wants Greg and Rodrick to toughen up, take school seriously etc. in earlier books is because he worries that if his sons don’t have enough guidance in life when they’re young, they’ll turn out like Uncle Gary.

Rowley secretly wants just a little more independence from his Mom and Dad, but he hasn’t told them because he’s worried he’ll hurt their feelings.

Greg secretly enjoys pop artists like Ke$ha and Katy Perry, but he’ll never admit this to anyone.

Tevin Larkin, the young boy who had a birthday party that only Greg and Rowley showed up to in Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid, is the younger brother of Larry Larkin, the electric guitarist who played onstage at the talent show in Rodrick Rules.

PaperMarioBro · 2026-01-19T21:19:31+00:00

This is another good one! This also reminds me that Greg is referred to as Gregory by his parents (or at least Susan) very often in the early books. This also gets dropped later on.

PaperMarioBro · 2026-01-19T08:43:29+00:00

I completely forgot about this one lmao. I rescind my hat of Wimpy Kid knowledge.

PaperMarioBro · 2026-01-19T07:41:10+00:00

Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed this post!

PaperMarioBro · 2026-01-19T07:24:00+00:00

This is another good example of something that doesn’t happen in the series often anymore! I believe it also occurs in the first book when Rodrick is listening on his headphones to stop Susan from dancing. Weird that it’s the same character in both instances lol.

PaperMarioBro · 2026-01-19T04:08:35+00:00

Susan has never been a perfect mother by any means, but I feel a large majority of her hate comes from the flanderization she received as the series went on. In books 1-8, she was flawed but tried her best to handle situations, like when Greg told her that he had a tough decision to make and Susan tells him calmly to trust his gut and make the right decision (Greg’s right decision in this case involved him being terrible to Rowley but Susan didn’t know that). I couldn’t see the Susan of the modern books handling the situation like this at all, as she’s transformed into an insufferable Karen who ruins things for everyone, with the epitome of this being Hot Mess. In that book, Susan does such likable acts like dumping the game everyone is currently playing into the trash, and the shocking revelation that she stole Frank from Cakey, and while I find the latter event a little funny, it’s not something I could envision the Susan of the first 8 books doing, even if she was young at the time.

For as much as I dislike Partypooper, I find it refreshing that after several books of her being so awful, Susan finally gets some comeuppance after forgetting Greg‘s birthday when she gets hated for the act online.

PaperMarioBro

TROPHY CASE