Sluggy Freelance
Sluggy Freelance is a webcomic by Pete Abrams , who appears daily in English since 1997th It's about Torg, a freelance web designer, and his friends who regularly find themselves on strange adventures.
Characters
main characters
- Torg is a freelance web designer at the beginning of the comic . Torg has evolved over the course of the series from a stupid, superficial nerd in a flannel shirt to a thoughtful hero. He owns Chaz , a magical sword that he found in the course of his adventures. The sword is awakened by the blood of innocent people, it then glows red and speaks to its bearer.
- Riff is Torg's best friend. He invents machines of dubious use, which rarely work and which regularly endanger the protagonists. His trademarks are his coat, sunglasses (which he never takes off) and his remark “Let me check my notes” if one of his inventions doesn't work as it should again.
- Bun-Bun , a talking rabbit. He was introduced by Torg as "the cute talking pet of the comic strip". It quickly became apparent that bun-buns are often in a bad mood and like to get violent. He always has a jackknife and a Glock pistol with him, and he's a big Baywatch fan .
- Zoë , an inconspicuous girl who behaves very rationally compared to the other characters. She met Torg and Riff when she accidentally locked the car keys in her car and wanted to ask the two for help. A few years later, Torg gave her an amulet that he and Riff had found in a hidden pyramid in Egypt. The amulet has magical powers that can transform the wearer into a camel and back when uttering a magic word.
- Gwynn , a spirited woman who is almost blind without glasses. She and Zoë met as assistants on the radio show of Dr. Know Lorna. Gwynn had a relationship with Riff at times. When this was broken by Riff's macho behavior, Gwynn wanted to take revenge on him with the help of a magical book. The incantations of Gwynn, however, ended in her being possessed by the demon K'z'K, whereupon Torg and Riff had to save her. Gwynn has had a talent for magic ever since.
- Kiki , a talking ferret who, unlike Bun-Bun, is kind-hearted and only creates chaos through its playfulness.
- Aylee , the monster of the movie Alien . It worked at times as Torg's secretary. Aylee is gifted with adapting to changing environments. To do this, it nests in a cocoon and appears in a new shape after a while.
The main opponents
- K'z'K is a demon accidentally summoned by Gwynn. According to a prophecy, it will bring about the end of mankind, which has been prevented several times by Torg, Riff and Zoë.
- Oasis has been operated on by a mad scientist so she will listen to his every command. One of the scientist's last commands before he died was that she love Torg. Since then she has been chasing after him and wants to marry him (against his will). She is very athletic and trained in various martial arts. She mysteriously survived several fatal accidents.
- Hereti-Corp is a company that funds dubious scientific research. Among other things , you initiated the Oasis project and tried to clone Aylee so that it could be used as a weapon. The company owns several cover companies and is not afraid to eliminate critics and opponents.
- Dr. Irving Schlock is a future scientist. He had to witness how K'z'K enslaved humanity in the future and sent himself into the present of the main characters using a time machine. Dr. Schlock is not fundamentally angry, at times he lived and worked with the main characters. But he is considered very selfish and he is also ready to sacrifice another person in order to get to his goal. He was forced to work for her by Hereti-Corp for a period of time.
- Horribus is the leader of the demons who live in the Dimension of Pain . Torg was thrown into this dimension by a malfunction in Riff's Flux agitator. After Torg was saved before the demons could harm him, Horribus vowed to get Torg's soul.
action
Since the plot of the story in the nine years since its inception is very complex and contains a lot, only the most important events are briefly listed here.
Book 1 - Is it not nifty?
In the first book, the characters Sam, Zoë, Aylee, Bun-Bun and Kiki are introduced to the two protagonists Torg and Riff. The first book only contains loosely related stories with the exception of the parodies of Alien ("The Sci-Fi-Adventure") and The X -Files ("The Slug-Files"). Pete Abrams' drawing style is very sketchy and inconsistent.
Book 2 - Worship the comic
At the beginning of the book, Sam appears with his new wife Valerie, who, however, turns out to be a vampire at the end of the book. Sam, too, has meanwhile been turned into a vampire and, like Valerie, belongs to the Lysinda circle. Sam and Valerie kidnap Torg and Zoë, whereupon Riff, Kiki and Bun-Bun rush to the rescue. In the final battle all vampires except Sam are killed, Torg and Zoë can be freed unscathed.
Zoë meets Gwynn.
In this book also Torg's first visit to the dimension of pain takes place ("Dimension of Pain"). He is thrown into this parallel universe by a mistake in the Flux agitator from Riff and there makes "acquaintance" with the demons of this dimension.
Book 3 - When Holidays attack!
Gwynn becomes possessed by the demon K'z'K after trying to get revenge on Riff with the help of a magical book. Torg and Riff save Gwynn, but accidentally shoot the demon K'z'K into the past.
When Torg and Zoë later test the Riff time machine and want to jump into the year 2000, the time machine turns out to be not suitable for the year 2000 and instead brings Torg and Zoë to the Middle Ages.
Book 4 - Game called on Account of naked chick
In the Middle Ages, Torg and Zoë meet K'z'K again. Zoë fulfills an ancient prophecy and seems to destroy K'z'K.
Back again, Torg makes a trip by car and takes Kiki and Bun-Bun with him. You happen to find the secret laboratory of a mad scientist who brainwashed a girl named Oasis. The scientist orders Oasis to love Torg and dies a short time later. Oasis also appears to be killed in an explosion.
Book 6 - The Bug, the Witch and the Robot
Parts of K'z'K have survived and re-taken possession of Gwynn. Riff, his new girlfriend Sasha, Riff's robot Mark 5, Aylee and Zoë fight the demon and finally defeat him too.
Book 6 marks the first high point in Pete Abram's development as a draftsman and storyteller. The characters have gained quite a bit of depth since Book 1. His drawing style is clearer, more concise and more constant. The stories are sometimes more serious and deal more with the protagonists and their problems.
publication
The webcomic has been published daily since August 1997. The comic now has over 100,000 daily readers.
So far, nine books with the stories from Sluggy Freelance are available. The books also contain bonus stories that cannot be found on the website. A good half of Sluggy Freelance is not yet available in book form and can only be viewed on the website.
Individual evidence
- Jump up ↑ Walker, Leslie (June 16, 2005). Comics Looking to Spread A Little Laughter on the Web . The Washington Post , p. D1.