Back of the Envelope

I just found Corner Alley 13, and plugged itf on my blog, only to find that the comic has just ended. It's not the first time I've discovered a comic just as it was ending. It was a good run, though, and it looks like there'll be a sequel. For now, go ahead and read the whole thing, and you'll get a complete story.

Sluggy Freelance — This week was a "24" parody, which took two comics, since two are enough to cover a length of 24 hours. But that was followed up by talking about 24's moral gray area, and then Bun-bun's stymied plan to extort $1 from every resident of the US by threatening to sic Gwynn's monkeys on them, or something. I never quite got his plan, or what it had to do with teaching the monkeys to attack anyone carrying 11 items.

Day by Day — The war's the topic this week, and how everyone seems to be running from it. Hmm. It seems to me that everyone should be interested in finding solutions, not simple political sniping.

Scary Go Round — Erin's throwing her newfound weight around, getting back at the bullies who picked on her. I'm worried that she might try to do something to Esther, who wasn't one such bully.

Dominic Deegan — Dominic's class gets interesting, as he tries to give his students some perspective. One of them goes the extra mile and uncovers an interesting truth. Every race and nation claims that the first vision was theirs, when in reality they all happened on the same day. Of course, some bullies decide that's a good reason to pick on him, but bullies don't need much of an excuse.

College Roomies from Hell!!! — Dave finally opens up, as does Margaret. Ah, I so want to see those two get together, but it just won't happen for a very long time. April and Mike, on the other hand, is never going to happen, and I wish she'd stop trying. I'm beginning to suspect April may be possessed. It's not like there's any shortage of that in this comic.

Schlock Mercenary — The mercenaries board the ship to find it abandoned. It looks like a trap, and the mercenaries are trying to determine whether to blow it up, or figure out some way to neutralize it.

So I've been trolling for new fantasy webcomics, and there are two I thought I'd point out.


Corner Alley -- Dwarves, elves, and all sorts of other mystical beings have returned to the human world. This causes problem. This comic is beautiful, with really fun characters, if a bit preachy and unrealistic in its treatment of humans vs. the mystical creatures. But definitely worth a look.

The Order of the Stick -- This is the funniest D&D parody I've ever read. It's brilliant. Art's pure stick figures, so don't expect much there, but the characters are interesting and the story's engaging. Most of all, though, it's funny.

Sluggy Freelance — Gwynn's monkeys have gone missing. So has Bun-bun. Is that foreboding you smell, or just the monkeys? Anyway, it looks like the psychiatrist is actually helping them realize they really care for one another, including the black sheep, Zoe? The problem is, the moment they're thinking of making up, she goes and starts airing their problems on national radio again.

Day by Day — Well, they can't stop talking about the new Congress. The Democrats would be better off as the Mommy party than the Child party, which is how they seem to be behaving.

Scary Go Round — Erin's back in school, and feeling quite awkward with everyone staring at her. What's worse, Bob, the school principle, is planning to bring about the apocalypse, in contract with the devil and with the help from some goblins and a giant rabbit. He just needs to open a portal and bring the armies of darkness through, and find a bride. I don't know why he needs a bride, but I predict these two plot threads will be intersecting soon.

Dominic Deegan — Dominic's mom comes for a visit, catching Luna in the act of seducing her boyfriend. That's awkward. It turns out Mrs. Deegan is planning to retire. That'll throw things for a loop. Dominic's not at all sorry for swamping his students with homework, though. Nor are any of the bad guys acting up right now.

College Roomies from Hell!!! -- And we're back! Diana's talking up some random guy who looks like Matt Damon, driving Roger crazy jealous. And Paul, but he's into the guy. That inspires Roger to cook up a plan to go into the past, retrieve Diana before she was angry at him, and bring her back to the future. Meanwhile, he's disrobing the mad Diana and sending her to 1888. Mike's all for the disrobing part. Out on the beach, Margaret and Dave are having a serious talk. Will Dave finally be honest with Margaret?

Schlock Mercenary — So the plan goes ahead without a hitch, except when it comes time for the enemy to surrender. He's not so willing to do that, figuring that the mercenaries won't dare incinerate his ship, as that would make it hard to be paid. Unfortunately for him, mercenaries like explosions just as much as they like their paychecks.

And I'm back on schedule... almost.

Sluggy Freelance — Gwynn has a monkey problem. The odor seems to be sticking with her, and that's a problem at work, which ends up getting her sent to see a psychiatrist. Despite saying that he's understanding, he's not really, 'cause Sluggy's just too crazy to understand. Nevertheless, the psychiatrist does help, so she recommends him to Torg. Torg, however, doesn't seem to get what psychiatrists are all about.

Day by Day — Sam's sister comes for a visit, and Skye is driving Zed batty. Fortunately for him, she's not that hard to get rid of. I guess certain people just have a low tolerance for geekiness.

Scary Go Round — Considering that Erin's gotten freakishly big as a result of the hulk formula, she seems to be pretty sane and relly not bad looking, although she certainly isn't short any longer. Meanwhile, Bob is getting a visit from the devil.

Dominic Deegan — Dominic's teaching a class at the academy. Sounds like fun. He seems to be quite a demanding teacher, however. But it seems like the students could use the discipline. Meanwhile, we're learning a little bit about how visions and second sight work.

Schlock Mercenary — They're ready to launch the attack on the pirate captain's warship. TAG, Ennesby, and Tagon have worked out what looks to be a pretty good plan. I can't wait to see how it all goes wrong.

Since I couldn't keep up with webcomics over Christmas break, I'm covering two weeks this time.

Sluggy Freelance — The twelve days show what happens when Kiki is very bad. There's lots of property damage, some radiation poisoning, and an angry Bun-bun.

Day by Day — So Sam doesn't want kids. Well, 40 is a bit old to try having kids, so I guess I can see that. Then there's some Christmas fun, with some nice moments between the characters, plus New Year's, with some days left over to pit the bloggers versus the MSM.

Scary Go Round — Ryan discovers that Riley has been sabotaging Tim, but oddly, Tim doesn't seem to mind. Then we get Shelley's year end album review.

Dominic Deegan — Dominic's mostly on hiatus these past couple of weeks, but we do find out that not just Jacob, but also Celesto and the Infernomancer are back. That's not a friendly crew.

Schlock Mercenary — So Kevyn gets to review the beginning of his relationship with Elf, and see what his crew was up to afterwards. After getting stiffed for the contract work that nearly got Kevyn killed, they found the pirate that got away, and now they're looking to capture his ship and make some cash.