Critical Reaction
London's The Sunday Times has described Sluggy Freelance as "TV buff heaven ... think The Office-style sardonic observations about everyday life set in Buffyverse's universe, with Battlestar Galactica thrown in ... very funny indeed."
In its early years, Sluggy Freelance's various online and print incarnations received several other notable reviews charting out its pioneering spirit in the early world of web comics. In her 2002 review of Abram's fifth printed collection The Onion A.V. Club National Associate Editor Tasha Robinson described Abrams' work as the leading edge of creative comics going online to escape the "depressing downward spiral into paralytic banality" of tightly managed, formulaic syndicated newspaper strips. Mourning the loss of comic greats like the Far Side and Calvin and Hobbes, she argues that "it makes sense that the spiritual children of Watterson and company have migrated to the Internet, where they can indulge themselves in humor that doesn't require corporate approval." Admiring Abram's mastery of the form but not the content of strip-a-day comics, she praises Sluggy Freelances balance of humor and lengthy, intricate story development. She lauds Sluggy at the top of the class of newer up-and-coming web comics for unique "left-field" humor far too "geeky," "twisted" and astute in social commentary for the average newspaper.
Even as early as 1999 The Tech, MIT's oldest and largest newspaper provided a stellar review by Contributing Editor Dan McGuire of Abram's first printed collection, Is It Not Nifty? Poking fun at the Internet's stereotypical association with pornography, McGuire introduces Sluggy Freelance as a cutting edge alternative endeavor on this virtual frontier and the relative artistic freedom it allows its creator, and ability to speak well to the culture of its audiences. While regretting the initial book lacks color weekends (something improved in future editions), McGuire praises the memorable characters, the inclusion of a bonus story for fans, and declares "Sluggy Freelance sits comfortably in the top tier of comic strips out there today, and Is it Not Nifty deserves to be on every MIT student’s shelf."
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