Sluggy Freelance

[fearthebunny]

I find it hard to believe that there is no sluggy discussion thread here, so this is the home of the GiantITP sluggy discussions.
Also, GRAND HIGH ALFALFA MARGARITA MIXER OF THE BUN-BUN FAN CLUB!

[JKR]

What's with these recent threads WITH NO LINK!:smalltongue:

Yeah, I don't know Sluggy, but I'll certainly check it out if you toss a link up. :smallsmile:

[fearthebunny]

Sluggy Freelance (http://www.sluggy.com/). Be warned, this comic is in it's ninth year, and is a daily comic. So, the archives are more then 3000 comics long. While this may be intimidating, it only takes about an hour a day, for two or three weeks, and you will be caught up.I would recomend going to the new reader guide in the About Us section, or clicking the far left icon next to the drop-down menu.
or you could always click here. (http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=970825)

[Varen_Tai]

Sluggy is the first webcomic I started reading many years ago. I've stayed with it the whole time, and I still love it. Great stuff! Highly recommended.

[JKR]

Wow, you're right, there sure are a lot... Yow.

But I read through some of the first ones and they're pretty funny. I like the rabbit.

[Varen_Tai]

Quite. Bun-Bun really grows on you. There are some hilarious comics in there, and very epic stuff, too. Just wait 'til you get to K'Z'K. Heh. I'm chuckling just thinking about Captain Consonant and the Book of Gud.

[atteSmythe]

Sluggy was also the first webcomic I read, years ago. I grew frustrated with it, though, around the time of the first time pirates plotline. Although I know I shouldn't really criticize how someone runs their business, around then it started to feel like there were more filler strips than real strips, and I've never liked any of the saturday guest comics.

Sluggy remains a comic that I really want to like, but can't any more. The golden age stuff (first 5 years or so?) is really fantastic, though.

[JKR]

Sluggy was also the first webcomic I read, years ago. I grew frustrated with it, though, around the time of the first time pirates plotline. Although I know I shouldn't really criticize how someone runs their business, around then it started to feel like there were more filler strips than real strips, and I've never liked any of the saturday guest comics.

Sluggy remains a comic that I really want to like, but can't any more. The golden age stuff (first 5 years or so?) is really fantastic, though.

I think that happens with a lot of comics. I know as an artist, I'd get attached to a series I was doing, but I think there comes a time when it needs to end. For everyone's sake. (I wonder if I'll be able to end a series when the time comes? It might be too hard at that point...)

[atteSmythe]

Yeah, I know what you mean. zefrank (http://zefrank.com)'s video blog is running for only one year for exactly that reason - nothing on the internet ends, it just peters out...

[Atreyu the Masked LLama]

Sluggy was also my first webcomic. I still read it and it still makes me laugh. It suffers from the "Cerberus effect" but so many webcomics do. Its probably one of the best ways to keep people interested in your creation.

POING!
I have the first 4 sluggy books and they are all signed by Pete. Two of them are signed by Joe Sunday, too. Joe is the type of minion I aspire to be. They are both very friendly in RL.

[Tekren]

Not the first webcomic I ever read, (Exploitation Now! has that distinction) But i still read and love it.

As for the cerebus effect, it just makes for very, Very developed characters.

That doesn't mean I wouldn't mind a few tertiary and secondary characters to be unquestionably killed off, though.

Sometimes Sluggy hurts my head.

Still read it every day.

[Alex Kidd]

I dunno at 9 years Sluggy has aged better than a lot of comics have at 2. Again not my first(that goes to VGcats or *erk* Megatokyo in around 2001 I think.), but it was one of the first I read and is still a favourite. And I'll tell you what, nothing burns a sick day like the Sluggy archives.

So any thoughts on what *Curent Story spec*
Aylee will be. My money's on ghost or an extremely attractive humanoid female(as they're Schlock's weakness and he's the person who's interacted with her cocoon the most).

[fearthebunny]

The two chapters between Oceans Unmoving 1 and 2 were anoying, but Oceans Unmoving was my favorite plotline, closely followed by That Which Redeems and the Holiday Wars.
Mosp's Story (http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=041105) (really called That Which Redeems 2, The Fall) is an example of what makes Sluggy the online powerhouse it is.
"What could ever... redeem... you..."

[Adlan]

I Dearly Love sluggy, It was my first webcomic, and the only one of which i like enough to have bought merchandise from. (all the books, T-shirts and a plushy Bun Bun.)


KA-CLICK!

[KuReshtin]

Sluggy is the first thing I check when I get in to work every morning. Clocely followed by Kevin & Kel and then User Friendly with User Friendly the first online comic I read on a daily basis (started reading it back in 1998 or so).

I agree with others on the thread that there are times when the series bogs down a bit and stalls and whatnot, and there are storylines I don't realy like, but all in all, it's a very good comic and Pete keeps coming up with stuff that keeps me coming back for more each day.

Most KiKi/Bun-Bun interactions are priceles, with the ruthlessness of Bun-Bun paired up with the brainlessness of KiKi.
Sluggy also taught me to always keep a pair of emergency-pants in my car, for those unexpected.. well.. emergencies.

'Game called on account of naked chick!'

[storybookknight]

Sluggy is generally a good time. It's sort of endless, but that's kind of okay. Pete just draws what he wants.

[Megalomaniac2]

I am so glad that they brought Aylee back recently, she was gone way too long. And her new form is awesome!

[Adlan]

Dimensional Flux Agitator for the Win!

I'm so glad they brought that back. Riff's gadgets are one of my favourite bits.

[Mr._Blinky]

Sluggy's got some of the best material out there, IMO, and has been pretty funny for most of its history. Mostly because I really like the way everything is planned out at least several plotlines in advance. I'm a big fan of comics that do that. He's also got some really original ideas, which I like.

However, while I find Sluggy Freelance quite enjoyable, I do have problems with it. For one, several of his plotlines aren't very good, especially the ones with the killer kittens. I like horror, so long as it's horror, and not a gore-fest (which they aren't, hear me out). I like comedy, when it's funny. But not-so-good-horror + meaningless deaths of semi-established characters being made into bad jokes? Not a funny or horrific combination. Also, while I appreciate the random jokes, they have gotten kind of old and repetitive, especially when it's "finally, they're about to say something impor-! Oh, nevermind, it was a dumb throw-away joke." It kind of gets on my nerves.

Overall, I like the strip a lot, so long as I ignore a few story-lines that I detested.

[Lord Iames Osari]

I love the way Pete manages to blend together the zany comedy and the epic drama. I think one of my favorite moments in the comic is the part where

Torg proposes to Oasis

That part, and the part that followed, really choked me up.

[Alex Kidd]

My favourite saga is definitely That Which Redeems, though Dangerous Days is a close runner up. He also seems to have skill with names huh?

Though agreed on the cerberus effect though at least it's narrow enough that there are two possible major villains. K'z'K and hC.

[Erk]

I think Sluggy's really an example of Cerberus Effect used to good effect. It's not always a bad thing. If Sluggy'd continued with its "golden age" of bikini suicide frisbee and random trips on the flux agitator, Pete would have stopped bringing the funny years ago. Mixing funny with drama has worked out pretty well, although there have been a few notable laaaaggggggggggggggggggging sections like Oceans Never Bloody Moving Anywhere (which was a great idea but way too ambitious for replacing the main part of the plot for so long, I think) and the most recent bit before Aylee came out of her cocoon finally, although Pete recognised the lagging on the last one.

[Mr._Blinky]

Personally, I liked Oceans Unmoving, but I think that's because I came in after that plot line was done, and had the benefit of reading it archived rather than having to read it on a day-to-day basis.

[Mr._Blinky]

Personally, I liked Oceans Unmoving, but I think that's because I came in after that plot line was done, and had the benefit of reading it archived rather than having to read it on a day-to-day basis.

[Scientivore]

I like it. It's not one of my top favorites like it is with some people; it would take awhile for me to miss it if it ever went on hiatus. I would miss it, though.

I like the mix of silly and serious. It's like the weather: if you don't like it, just wait a little while and it'll change. I especially like the epic story arcs. For example, "Oceans Unmoving" is one of my favorite stories in any medium.

Oddly, I wouldn't necessarily like it better if it were all epic storyline all the time. I didn't have to sit through "Oceans Unmoving" being released one strip at a time. And, I wouldn't like it at all if Pete got tired of it.

[Koji]

What's the "Cerberus effect"?

I've never heard the term before.

[sun_tzu]

What's the "Cerberus effect"?

I've never heard the term before.
I believe the term was coined by Websnark (http://www.websnark.com/). It reffers to when a silly, comedic comic (or other work of fiction) turns into something serious and dramatic - and actually pulls it off (in reference to the comic "Cerebus", where apparently something like that happened).

[Scientivore]

I believe the term was coined by Websnark (http://www.websnark.com/). It reffers to when a silly, comedic comic (or other work of fiction) turns into something serious and dramatic - and actually pulls it off (in reference to the comic "Cerebus", where apparently something like that happened).

Huh. My best guess was something to do with headcount since Cerberus was the three-headed dog of Hades. So, I thought about it and realized that despite a huge cast of named characters, Pete seems to manage his headcount fairly well on a per story basis.

Most characters are segregated into different dimensions: parallel universes, different times, outside of time entirely or inside the hellkitten town (for example). And, it seems like whenever Pete introduces a new dimension, most of the main cast stay behind and become bit parts (if anything) for its plot.

[sun_tzu]

Huh. My best guess was something to do with headcount since Cerberus was the three-headed dog of Hades. So, I thought about it and realized that despite a huge cast of named characters, Pete seems to manage his headcount fairly well on a per story basis.
Different spelling - Cerberus for the dog, Cerebus for the syndrome.

[Mewtarthio]

Named after a comic called "Cerebus," incidentally, which did the same thing.

Also note that, if a comic goes for Cerebus and fails, it's called... what's that term again? "Five and Ten"? "Nine and Ten"?

[Sampi]

The article taht someone linked to said "One and Ten"

[sun_tzu]

Named after a comic called "Cerebus," incidentally, which did the same thing.

Also note that, if a comic goes for Cerebus and fails, it's called... what's that term again? "Five and Ten"? "Nine and Ten"?
"First and Ten Syndrome" (http://www.websnark.com/archives/2004/09/faq_lexicon.html).

[Alex Kidd]

Ah, thought Cererus Syndrome was the constantly expanding villains thing not that. So yeah, I agree Sluggy does it well too.

[Knight13]

Sluggy is my favorite webcomic, as well as the first one I ever read. There has never been a Sluggy storyline that I have not enjoyed and I will keep coming back every day as long as Pete keeps drawing.

[mutecebu]

Sluggy's my second favorite comic ever (and I've read a lot). It's really good, it's the only one I still check daily. Right now it's going through two filler weeks, but it's been prety good about not putting fillers for a while.

The increase in fillers seems to be proportional to the increase in quality of the art. The present-day art is better than any syndicated comic I've read. Very epic, with big story lines. Yah, best among any First and Ten or Cerberus Syndrome comic I've seen.