Part the Twentieth: Goblins the Webcomic OR Monster Mash
Webcomics can be a pretty mixed bunch. A lot of would-be artists meet with initial success thanks to the ease of internet publishing, but when the going gets tough, they can easily lapse into update-less funks. The number of “stranded” webcomics is too vast and tragic to contemplate… let’s leave that aside for now.
I’m very cautious about which new series I’m willing to devote myself to. I can get very invested in stories, and the thought of a series suddenly ending without adequate (or any) resolution frightens me a bit (though perhaps not as much as it used to). I’ve just had my heart broken too many times to want to repeat that process.
We hardly knew ye.
That’s one of the reasons that I’m so glad to see Goblins: Life Through Their Eyes rise to its current level of success and reliability. The artist, who goes by “Thunt,” takes some fairly common tropes and really employs them effectively: his comic is about a small band of goblins who, contrary to popular belief, aren’t evil at all (or even particularly weak). Sure they fight amongst themselves at times, and they certainly have no love for humans, but they are shown to be every bit as intelligent as their counterparts among the other races (who are not themselves always especially bright).
Other common D&D parody elements are fairly common: obvious lampooning of player types (one character is actually NAMED Min-Max, and while he can’t read or even “rhyme on purpose,” he is an incredibly powerful warrior), lampshade hanging related to game mechanics, and so on. What sets this comic apart is its willingness to go into some really dark (and gory) places despite its generally light-hearted tone – a reflection, I think, of the very grim nature of much of the D&D world (at least, back in the day).
The artwork is also fresh and appealing. Thunt has a style all his own, and the way he draws the Goblins is visually striking. I especially like the minor touches that he adds, like the way that their eyes shift to monochromatic orbs (instead of the usual human-like version with pupils) when they are angry or in combat. It’s a subtle touch, and a very effective way to suggest a lingering animal-like quality to these otherwise fairly “civilized” characters.
Thunt is also so brimming with creativity that he can’t keep himself from doing side projects related to the Goblins universe. From time to time, as a method of raising a little more money for the site, he runs a special feature about the adventures of a goblin named “Tempts Fate,” who is bold (and perhaps reckless) but extremely skilled (and lucky). He lays out a series of challenges for Tempts Fate in the first comic, then sets a fundraising goal for each challenge. As each goal is met, Thunt produces an additional comic that shows Tempts successfully overcoming the related obstacle. Recently, he’s also taken to including complex riddles and puzzles for readers to solve before Tempts can successfully continue.
This is perhaps the most innovative feature of Thunt’s work, and it has always met with resounding success, often producing (or exceeding) the grand total fundraising goal almost immediately after he posts the first comic. The adventures of Tempts are also thoroughly hilarious, and allow Thunt to make tangential jokes that would otherwise be difficult to work into the main comic’s story (which is reflected in the main comic’s general lack of D&D-based humor in more recent story arcs).
This comic might be an acquired taste- for some, the early jokes and plot lines may not be fresh enough to hold your interest, and the violence is incredibly intense and graphic whenever it makes an appearance. Still, this is a webcomic with a lot of heart, and even though Thunt tends to be a little late with his regular updates, he does still get them up every week. I hope you all will check it out and give him a try.
