Sluggy Freelance - Evolution of Comic's Art and Tone

Evolution of Comic's Art and Tone

Sluggy Freelance began with a series of parody plot-lines which, while adding character developments and even some recurring characters were fairly stand-alone. As the comic progressed, however Abrams began adding ongoing mysteries, intrigues and a series of "epic" stories that took Sluggy in a different direction. An example is the introduction of the mysterious character Oasis, whose mysterious past and threat to the cast becomes a backbone of some of the most important later plots. Abrams art also took on an increasingly dynamic and complex tone in many of these later stories, including weeks of full color or experimental graphics and as many as 15 panels in a single day, making the strip feel more like a comic book or graphic novel in some of its most dramatic moments. Despite this, Abrams worked hard to maintain the comic's characteristic humor and quirkiness even in the midst of moments of great emotion and levity. A notable example of this deepening of the drama in the webcomic is the chapter "Fire and Rain" which broke several traditions in the site, has a far more dark and detailed art style and is almost completely free of comical elements.

In early 2007, with the start of the Chapter Entitled "Aylee" Abrams announced on his sites' news-feed that he had intentions to complete the Sluggy Freelance story after 10 years, and that the comic was entering its "Endgame," with dramatic changes that would impact the characters deeply. He hinted, however that it would likely take the strip some time to tie up all the loose ends in question.