stoutfellow (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
stoutfellow) wrote2014-03-02 07:42 pm
stoutfellow) wrote2014-03-02 07:42 pm
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El Goonish Shive
So, El Goonish Shive. I expect to make several posts about that webcomic over the next few weeks. Mainly, this is because I've tried three times to sign up for the EGS forums, without success, and it seems that this is not at all unusual. Well, if I can't talk about it there, I'll talk about it here. Of course, it'll go under a cut.
Let me start by pointing out some of the flaws of the series. The artwork is not great; in the early going it was outright bad. (But the same was true of heavyweights like Schlock Mercenary and Questionable Content....) The story is a sprawling mess, with proliferating plotlines, some of which have not been resolved after nearly a decade. And... there are other flaws, which I'm not going to go into just now.
Despite all this, I enjoy the strip, mostly because of the cast. I like these people, mostly - their interactions with each other, the way they deal with problems, and the genuine affection they feel for each other. There are eight central characters, teenagers living in the imaginary Midwestern city of Moperville (reportedly based on Naperville, IL, which tells me next to nothing); they live in a world featuring magic, extraterrestrials, powerful and playful supernatural beings (who occasionally go mad), government agents (some of whom are themselves wizards), teenage bullies, overbearing teachers (one of whom, at least, has a major Secret), and parents who display varying levels of understanding of their children.
Enough. Here's a brief rundown of the Main Eight.
At Moperville North High School:
Tedd Verres: short, androgynous, kind of a horndog, and a budding technomage. In love with Grace.
Elliot Dunkel: somewhere on the scale between Boy Scout and White Knight, the kind of guy who beats up bullies. Kind of a doormat in his personal relationships. Sometimes he's a girl - several girls, actually, one of whom is a superhero. (See here for a sampling.)
Susan Pompoms: dark-haired, smart, sardonic, a cynical shell around a core of romantic idealism. They call her the Hammer Queen. (You really don't want to piss her off.) (Her real first name is Tiffany; she discarded it a long time ago, but she's kind of stuck with the last name.)
Sarah Brown: the strip's Everygal. Artistic, sassy, utterly unmagical, she's now working as Tedd's lab assistant. He pays her in small but interesting magical artifacts.
At Moperville South:
Grace Sciuridae: bubbly, affectionate, sometimes naively pacifistic but ferocious when she does decide to fight. Sometimes she's a squirrel, sometimes a flying mass of fangs and claws. She's not entirely human. In love with Tedd.
Ellen Dunkel: Elliot's identical twin sister. (I know, I know. A wizard did it.) A free spirit, a budding detective, and Elliot's closest confidant. In love with Nanase.
Nanase Kitsune: The group's Wise One. In melee, she's about on a par with Elliot; in magical power, she's miles ahead of any of the others. (You really don't want to piss her off.) She's Ellen's partner, in more senses than one.
Justin Tolkiberry: Gay, decent at both melee fighting and at magic (though not in Elliot's or Nanase's league), kind of a geek, and Susan's main confidant.
Then there are the major supporting characters: Tedd's father ("I am an endless barrel of exposition!"); the Dunkels, the most laid-back parents of budding sorcerers I've ever seen (see this very early strip for an example); Mr. Raven, the history teacher (who really doesn't know how to deal with Grace); Catalina Bobcat - impulsive, loud, foul-mouthed, but basically good-hearted; the mysterious Noah, Mr. Raven's protege; and Diane, sosh-queen, gold-digger, and (unknown to almost everyone) Susan's long-lost identical twin sister, despite being blonde and several inches shorter. (A wizard did it.)
I dunno. The storylines are often silly and sometimes (as with Diane and Susan, and I haven't told you the half of that yet) soapy, but I think they're fun.
Let me start by pointing out some of the flaws of the series. The artwork is not great; in the early going it was outright bad. (But the same was true of heavyweights like Schlock Mercenary and Questionable Content....) The story is a sprawling mess, with proliferating plotlines, some of which have not been resolved after nearly a decade. And... there are other flaws, which I'm not going to go into just now.
Despite all this, I enjoy the strip, mostly because of the cast. I like these people, mostly - their interactions with each other, the way they deal with problems, and the genuine affection they feel for each other. There are eight central characters, teenagers living in the imaginary Midwestern city of Moperville (reportedly based on Naperville, IL, which tells me next to nothing); they live in a world featuring magic, extraterrestrials, powerful and playful supernatural beings (who occasionally go mad), government agents (some of whom are themselves wizards), teenage bullies, overbearing teachers (one of whom, at least, has a major Secret), and parents who display varying levels of understanding of their children.
Enough. Here's a brief rundown of the Main Eight.
At Moperville North High School:
Tedd Verres: short, androgynous, kind of a horndog, and a budding technomage. In love with Grace.
Elliot Dunkel: somewhere on the scale between Boy Scout and White Knight, the kind of guy who beats up bullies. Kind of a doormat in his personal relationships. Sometimes he's a girl - several girls, actually, one of whom is a superhero. (See here for a sampling.)
Susan Pompoms: dark-haired, smart, sardonic, a cynical shell around a core of romantic idealism. They call her the Hammer Queen. (You really don't want to piss her off.) (Her real first name is Tiffany; she discarded it a long time ago, but she's kind of stuck with the last name.)
Sarah Brown: the strip's Everygal. Artistic, sassy, utterly unmagical, she's now working as Tedd's lab assistant. He pays her in small but interesting magical artifacts.
At Moperville South:
Grace Sciuridae: bubbly, affectionate, sometimes naively pacifistic but ferocious when she does decide to fight. Sometimes she's a squirrel, sometimes a flying mass of fangs and claws. She's not entirely human. In love with Tedd.
Ellen Dunkel: Elliot's identical twin sister. (I know, I know. A wizard did it.) A free spirit, a budding detective, and Elliot's closest confidant. In love with Nanase.
Nanase Kitsune: The group's Wise One. In melee, she's about on a par with Elliot; in magical power, she's miles ahead of any of the others. (You really don't want to piss her off.) She's Ellen's partner, in more senses than one.
Justin Tolkiberry: Gay, decent at both melee fighting and at magic (though not in Elliot's or Nanase's league), kind of a geek, and Susan's main confidant.
Then there are the major supporting characters: Tedd's father ("I am an endless barrel of exposition!"); the Dunkels, the most laid-back parents of budding sorcerers I've ever seen (see this very early strip for an example); Mr. Raven, the history teacher (who really doesn't know how to deal with Grace); Catalina Bobcat - impulsive, loud, foul-mouthed, but basically good-hearted; the mysterious Noah, Mr. Raven's protege; and Diane, sosh-queen, gold-digger, and (unknown to almost everyone) Susan's long-lost identical twin sister, despite being blonde and several inches shorter. (A wizard did it.)
I dunno. The storylines are often silly and sometimes (as with Diane and Susan, and I haven't told you the half of that yet) soapy, but I think they're fun.