Retrospective!

Yep, Dr. Haus is digging through the archives to sate you folks whilst he tries to get another review finished.

I blame Aarin for convincing me to try to update this with some form of regularity. Yeah, you heard me.

Joe and Monkey by Zach Miller
Then: "Take a delivery guy named Joe, a talking monkey, and a robot with a compulsion to steal everything (hence the name Kleptobot), and throw them all in the same part of Minneapolis where hilarity will inevitably ensue."

Now: Still funny in that subtle, newspaper-strip way. There's also the makings of a story too if you look at Miller's recent foray in GoComics (check the archives). And he's come out with two more books.

Edge the Devilhunter by Sam Romero
Then: "Romero pulls no punches in his strips, and apparently expects none to be held back. EtD gives voice to some of his politics, envisioning a futuristic America where the government is controlled by faceless corporations, American highschoolers are drafted to fight the never-ending War on Terror, and “NYPD Inc.” has a way of tracking down those who dare dissent from America’s government."

Now: A giant penis-face monster from Hell (Zajra, a.k.a. "Dickhead") breaks up a romantic moment between Jack (the protagonist) and Princess Tail. This could very well be the freakiest thing I've seen in a webcomic that wasn't mostly pornographic. Probably not the ideal strip one would want to see if reading this comic for the first time.

The Hero's Handbook

Then: "I know this comic is a parody and not a straightforward fantasy comic, so some pointless humor and plot devices are acceptable. However, clustering them all together within a short span of comic pages is just lazy in terms of storytelling. In a span of 13 strips, Lute breaks out of jail (with some help), conveniently finds the "Hero's Handbook," and spots nearby weaponry to fight the evil bandits."

Now: Hasn't updated in three months and change. The updates that have occurred since the above review was written haven't helped HHB suck any less.

Onward Bound by Darrick Chen and Dustin Baker

Then: "The setting appears to be a smorgasboard of different themes. It's set in an Old Western canon, yet the protagonist runs into a spellcasting mage, a sheriff with a metallic, steam-powered arm, and likes to smoke a slow-burning Dwarvish tobacco."

Now: The main link takes you to a page with a "Coming Soon" message. Not sure what's coming soon though.