Although I'm a huge Penny and Aggie fan (it's my favourite webcomic), I never could get into Fans that much. The first "book" of the series is weak and awkward (in fairness, it was Campbell's first webcomic effort). After that, I've found that Fans veers between straightforward, accessible storytelling and characterization (e.g. I did read through, and enjoy, the arc from which the second "moment" above comes), and "WTF is going on" pretentious experimentation (a common flaw in Campbell's writing overall, even in P&A a few times).
Also, the series was clearly meant for Waltrip's art. The first "I am that I am" excerpt above, is wonderful in terms of writing and layout, but the goofy, overly-cartoony art (by whichever artist that was) spoils it. The last panel of Rikk crying with joy just makes me laugh, which isn't the intended effect.