I said it in a recent thread at TWCL, but I won’t review a comic that doesn’t have positive merit. For however crass or excitable I may be, this is not a hate-review-project. Now matter how big or small a webcomic is, the good stuff should be praised, and the bad stuff should be addressed.

As always:
Solid character dialogue
Art not shitty enough to detract from the story
Nice webdesign & easy navigation
Bonus goodies (if I’m lucky)
Class

That’s all I want from you. Roffles, tear jerking sentiments, stunning visuals, active forums—it’s really not all that important. You get the basics down within your own style, a good premise/plot, and you’ll have readers.

Here we go! Don and Doll.

I’ve seen Don and Doll around for a while now, but I never stepped in and looked around. It’s the gag-a-day or melancholy musings of a seemingly down-and-out man and his one-foot Doll. Think Calvin and Hobbes, except on depressants. Doll doesn’t move or change expressions, only speaks. This suits the vein of humor as her lines are delivered with a constant grin-inducing deadpan.

I was put off by the soft, almost hand-painted art (looks airbrushed) until I got into the colors. The biggest problem is the character designs, which, while still developing, look awkward. They try and compensate with more color and soft edges, but a good anatomy/reference study would do them a world of good. Doll herself is made of win and awesome. Beside that, the strength of this is the writing.

A brief comparison, and early on at that.

Bullshit. I actually like calling a character ‘the Jim’ but panel 3 is so stiff I gagged. (har, har)

Awesome.

No issues with the webdesign is good news. Snappy loading, uncluttered, and easy to navigate.

The tone of this entire webcomic is cute, surreal, and ho-hum, like the world exists to bring Don down–everything is wrong but Doll. Sounds creepy putting a grown man in context to it, but the theme translates well. She’s his critic, support, conscience and comedy relief during a terribly common and lonely existence. Still under 40 strips, this comic has nowhere to go but up, and I mean that in the best possible way.

Your Sample: <3