The comic: Problem Sleuth
URL: http://www.mspaintadventures.com/
By: Andrew Hussie
Type: Webcomic, updated frequently but on no set schedule. Problem Sleuth is one of three similarly-formatted comics on Hussie's MS Paint Adventures site, the other two being Jailbreak and Bard Quest.
Content Rating: PG-13, for violence and occasional language.
Plot: What starts out as a boring day for the private investigator Problem Sleuth (and his neighboring investigators, Ace Dick and Pickle Inspector) snowballs into a long, complicated bout of cosmic warfare and obscure puzzle-solving that's equal parts epic awesomeness and silly fun. The plot isn't really linear enough to summarize beyond that--three particularly kickin' detectives that wind up having to save the universe. Or possibly the fabric of reality. The realityverse?
Personal thoughts: I discovered Problem Sleuth only a few months ago, but it grew on me quick--you do have to start at the beginning, which is now thousands of panels ago, and it's slow to start, but once it gets rolling this, like last week's Girl Genius, becomes another winner of the "one-more-page, oh-man-is-it-really-three-in-the-morning" award. What really sets Problem Sleuth (and for the matter, the other MS Paint Adventures) aside from other webcomics is its formatting: rather than a comic, Problem Sleuth is presented as an old-school text-based adventure game, with each panel/page representing a new command or a continuation of a current one. Many of these are actually reader-submitted command suggestions, which allows for a degree of interactibility in a webcomic not often seen and accounts for the many bizzarre plot twists and perpetuation of running jokes. As a frankly brilliant maneuver that both accounts for the number of panels/pages present and keeps with the "game" theme, you have the option to "save" and "load" your "game" during reading via cookies--if you "save your game" on a given panel/page, the next time you "load" you will be taken to that particular one, to continue. While at times the plot is bogglingly confusing (though usually entertainingly so), Problem Sleuth is just so fun and original that it deserves a place of pride in your bookmarks. Go discover yourself some Sleuth Diplomacy. And pass me another salted melon while you're at it.
As a last note, I feel I should also plug Hussie's other, non-web comic, Whistles and the Starlight Calliope, available through SLG (one of my favorite comics publishers, I might add). Definitely worth picking up. I'd keep an eye on this guy for future comics developments, because I have a feeling he's gonna go places.
Holden Out.
EDIT: Holy crap, I just found out that Andrew Hussie was in fact the severe awesomeness behind a webcomic I haven't frequented in quite a while: Inappropriate Time For Ham. http://www.andrewhussie.com/comic.php?sec=archive&auth=Blurbs&cid=blurbs/00008-itfh.gif
That is, and can only be described as, Kicking Rad.
Holden Seriously Out, For Real This Time.
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