Sunday Comics: Homestuck

Sunday Comics is a weekly feature where I spotlight awesome comics that you may want to check out.

The Comic: Homestuck

URL: www.mspaintadventures.com

By: Andrew Hussie

Type: Comic Strip, updates frequently but on no set schedule.

Content Rating: PG, for some very mild innuendo and very occasional mild language. (Note: At the time I originally wrote this. as the comic has gone on, it has teetered more steadily between PG-13 and R.)

Plot: Another awesome pseudo-game comic outing from Andrew Hussie, the mind behind Problem Sleuth (which as some readers may recall was the second-ever Sunday Comics). Rather than poking at conventions of RPGs and point-and-click adventures like PS did, however, Homestuck makes fun of The Sims primarily, though there are still lots of RPG and Point-and-click Adventure elements. It also appears to draw on some H.P. Lovecraft elements. The art style is different, but still definitely Hussie's, and his storytelling skill has only grown since Problem Sleuth. Like PS's "chapters," Homestuck is divided into "Acts," the first of which was recently completed and was stated by Hussie to be "more of a prologue, really." Pretty epic prologue. So now we're just a few pages into what's apparently the meat of the story. The main characters thus far introduced, John and Rose, are likable for sure. Homestuck is still funny, though its humor deals less in the moments of outright silliness sometimes seen in PS and usually is a bit more subtle or snarky. Hussie's penchant for long, unusual, and/or cleverly invented words still stands, a source of great comfort to this English major. There's also a lot more variety present than in PS, which would have the occasional animated gif panel but mostly be still images. Homestuck is still mostly still images, but Hussie has begun to add fan-contributed music where appropriate and has been steadily learning and utilizing flash animation to some panels, which is really nifty and immersive. Commands are still suggested by readers, and if anything, the fan-community input for this feels even stronger this time around. Andrew Hussie is creating something which may in fact be one of the futures of webcomics.

Personal thoughts: There wasn't much "plot" in the plot section this time around, mainly because I don't want to spoil things, but I recommend hopping into Homestuck, especially if you've read Problem Sleuth but even if you didn't. If nothing else it's an awesome comics experiment. Get on board while it's still relatively short--Hussie has planned this to be another year-long project, so it'll no doubt be way up there in pages by the time it's done.

Holden Out.