The Webcomics Corner Issue 1: Sluggy Freelance

[Maokun]

Greetings. Frankly shocked and apalled by the appearant lack of awareness about this awesome medium in this forum, Maokun, also known in some circles as "our hero" decided to start this column to bring to the light some of the most distinguished examples he's found in his manifold ventures in the world wild web.

*Walks pompously to and fro with arms crossed behind his back*

Let us begin with one of the oldest and most longeve examples, Sluggy Freelance. Research suggests that Sluggy Freelance first oozed out of the primordial waters of the html in the mezosoic era of the internets circa 1997 AD. Exhibiting rather crude art and gags based around word puns and silly bachelor antics it managed to survive in this larval status for around a whole year, most likely due the lack of natural competition in the early days of life in the dry lands of the web. It was only then, when unexpectedly Sluggy reached its evulotionary potential growing complete limbs of drama, suspense and actions from the undistinct stumps of character development that the original life form presented.

*Holds both jacket's lapels and stares at an indefinite point up and to the right*

Playing the strenghts of the archtypes of the main characters, -to wit: A lousy but good hearted nerd in a flannel; his cool, suave, but slightly psychotic inventor friend; his pet, a murderous mini-lop with a bad case of BA; their beautiful but insecure neighbor and her blind-as-a-bat but confident friend; and their acquaintance, a dense wannabe guido followed by his hyperactive ferret pet- Sluggy moved suddenly but seamlessly from gag-based silly comedy to gag-based awesome storytelling, incorporating into its genes everything that is good from fictional worlds: magic, aliens, conspirations, evil corporations, time travel and a beautiful and deadly ninja that may or may not be the android clone of an ancient goddess, just to mention a few of the many topics that the comic has delved into at any given moment.

*Scribbles frantically complex diagrams in the blackboard while speaking*

The most fascinating feature the specimen presents in its modern form is a convoluted but compelling storyline weaved masterfully from the most diverse elements into an exquisitely complex mesh of narrative, full of secrets that are hinted at from time to time and which suggest an interconnection of every little thing at cosmical levels. Several scholars of the field are oftenly caught in lenghty and heated arguments speculating and theorizing about the hidden truths and powers behind its plot. Probably equally as fascinating is the fact that with almost every strip, even in the darkest and most hopeless battles, it still manages to deliver a laugh or two as it used to do in the days of its humble origins.

*Sits down heavily, exhausted but satisfied*

Now, some of you may be wondering about the relevance of the content for this board's concerns. You may rest assured that at its worse it exhibits very mild swearing and innuendo, used seldomly and comically as the author has strieved to keep it PG-13 friendly. The first mini-arc is also, rather unfortunately, misleading as it presents the characters attempting to summon the devil through the internet for cheap laughs. However, it is not by any means a recurrent theme of the strip and though "demons" appear later in the storyline, they are totally unrelated with christian tradition (they are, as a matter of fact, simply the evil inhabitants of another dimension.)

*Stands up and opens classroom's door stopping out without looking back*

Some last useful data: The author is Pete Abrams. The strip currently updates monday to friday with bonus content in the weekends. Your assignement for tomorrow is to go to http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=970825 where the first strip is located and read forward the archives until the present day, it's only under 12 years of daily updates; it will take some time but I assure you it's really worth of it. And don't let yourself be turned away from it by the sketch-ish art, Abrams really ups his game later in the run. Class dissmissed.