Webcomic Book Club Full Reviews of The Life Of Riley by Aaron Sacharow, Dan Jaaren & Brian Schmoyer

The Life of Riley A review by Kajamir the Giant After sitting through a majority of LOR's archive, I'm afraid I must be much less kind in review than those who have already given their opinions. I found LOR to be an overly hyped, juvenile, and confusing comic with horrendous writing and uneven art. I don't understand at all, the appeal this comic has. If I could say what this comic is about, that might be a plus, because I can't. Rather, it's more a collection of sequences, vaguely connected. The first seventy comics or so concern with a basic non-story based run of tech/game geek 'jokes'. Then there's a short Stubble-like strife filled end-of-romance period between a previously little mentioned vampire roommate, an angel in disguise as a raver, and an obnoxious succubus, which at some point, translates into a ridiculous and long winded end-of-the-world plot, involving a monotonous paint ball war on a floating island, alongside a pretentious battle with demons being not unlike DBZ in admitted style, but less interesting. It just boggles the mind how this comes to be, and I don't mean in the way that I'm impressed with the execution. The comic is just non-sensical in overrall run. It either tries to impress the reader with unfunny punch lines/sequences or with shows of power/weak plot twists (the battle scene). The dialogue is nothing to write home about. There's nothing of any particular thought being discussed, the characters are shallow, and there's a distinct lack much way to identify them with a personality with maybe the exception of two. There are way too many characters in this, most notable during the BOBS sequence which, as I understand it, brought in a number of fans of the comic as cameos, who were little else than a collection of images with nothing very distinctive to know about them. Time and time again, LOR repeats these mistakes. It is more fanboyish and unpracticed than anything noteworthy. LOR's art is variable as well. The baby faced characters didn't do anything for me, though I could recognize this person and that, by gender. During the war sequence, it gets literally laughable. There's a scene that was intended to be impressive, when the Arch Succubus Jezebel is seen for the first time. Instead, I'm just thinking how ridiculous it all was. The proportions were bad, and the censor flames were corny. It seems like the artist knew this, and limits a great deal of the interactions were head shots in the darkness, which in of itself, was tiresome. Of that constant darkness, it seems more like cutting corners than showing a grim scene. After the war scene, the art changed at least twice, going to a kawaii style, and then something actually decently rendered. However, by that time, I had my fill of LOR. Of The Life of Riley, I literally found it unpleasant at every page, enough so that I'd regard it, at least by my own perspective, as a chore. LOR needs a huge amount of work, but I suspect given the inexplicable legions of fans it has (it was even applauded on PvP as of this writing on the front page), it will not develop what it needs to be something better. I give LOR a 1 out of 10. LOR is a complete thumbs down from this giant. Review by Kajamir the Giant Sat Apr 19 2003 11:58 PM

Life of Riley is a comic that I now have mixed feelings about. I've enjoyed it for some time. But after looking back through it, I'm no longer so sure about why. The art is nice, but there is little development that I can tell, beyond the first comic. The artist can certainly make characters distinctive, but none of them have much detail to their designs. And landscapes, unfortunately, tend to be flat and monocolored. Fight sequences are nicely done, though they are, unfortunately, rather short-and end up emulating DBZ in the worst of ways. The characters, as I mentioned, are pretty distinctive in design. However, they don't have much detail-and the origins/introductions of many are either badly handled or simply make no sense. The "goddesses", for example, enter without any real explanation, and Gore's origin was a simple (and unfunny) joke. Sometimes, the humor is spot-on, and works quite well with the characters. However, topical humor rarely worked at the time it was put out, and sometimes the references make no sense. And the story.....well, this is the area where Life of Riley flat-out fails. The creator certainly seems to understand the plot, based on the explanations; he actually has a coherent goal in mind, I believe. But for bringing it across, it doesn't work at all. The first serious story is muddled, and the explanations are usually breathless while placed in the action-it manages to be both rushed and plodding at the same time in places. And the two follow-ups are worse. The story of the two Dans (though it was described, in character, as completely pointless) could have been very interesting, but instead became an uninteresting duel. And the current story arc (recently completed) didn't make much sense before OR after reading. The layout is pretty clear; the action starts at the top, and moves from top to bottom. This can be somewhat annoying when the comic is long, but I never lost track of what panel went where-which is a concern when they aren't arranged in a "traditional" pattern. Being unconventional can turn out to hurt a comic if they aren't careful. Overall, Life of Riley seems a lot like a guilty pleasure to me. The story makes little sense...but the jokes are usually good now, and I'm really waiting to see more of the minor characters from earlier in the strip's run. Hopefully the story starts to come together, and prove that it makes sense. I give it 5 out of 10. Review by Benor Sat Apr 19 2003 11:32 PM

Ah! If I may join in the fun, I've finally found a comic I've read! Emby's Review of "Life of Riley" Storyline: A few webcomics do this, but it infuriates me a little. What starts as a normal comic (ie. newspaper funnies) becomes a world-is-in-danger/amazing-powers-save-everyone. It makes it very random at times, but it's well thought out, if a little big grand-scale. 14/20 points. Characters: There are lots of them. This would make it seem that there would only be steriotypes and shalow characters, concentrating on only one personality type. Though this may be true for a few, many characters are pleasantly multi-fauceted and have layers. Even with amazing powers, they make mistakes. One of the most important points in a character are his or her quirks. 17/20 points. Artwork: Though I am not a specialist of art (who am I kidding, I couldn't scribble out of a wet paper bag), I enjoy the polished work that the artist gives. It's not quite detailed as some art, but it gives off feelings, faces, backgrounds and such well enough. The color is also well done, as well as the shading. 17/20 points. Feel: The feel seems a little bit off, in my oppinion. It just doesn't tie you into the story like a graphic novel would. You feel detached to the characters and not really part of the world. It's somewhat tough to know how a few of the characters are feeling because of the near-apocalyptical power they hold, so you can't empithize with many of them. 8/20 points. Altogether: The story is fun if a little too big scale for my taste. The artwork is splendid, polished, and colored well. The characters are mainly deep and well thought out, with a history. A very amazing history, but history nontheless. It's a good comic to read to get out of the normality of the day, but not something so amazing that you'd make it a important daily routine. 16/20 points. Points: 72/100= Emby thinks it's a good comic. Review by Emberage Tue Apr 15 2003 10:37 PM

A Review of "The Life Of Riley" By Xenix Well, this is another one of those comics which I have already been following regularly. The good news is, I don't have to read an entire archive (or most of it) in order to properly reply. ^_^ The bad news is, I have to think harder about it. Characters: Well, the characters are... developed. They seem to be a little fixed in their niches at times, but otherwise have some nice background and depth to them. Story: The story... jumps. Looking back, I see how the various pieces-parts link together, but while reading it, I remember that it seemed to jump from one thing to another. Even now, I recall a major jump from a "computer/video geek"-based webcomic like RealLife to a "superhero-ish save-the-world"-ish webcomic like F.O.G. Club. Still seems like too much of a stretch. Oh well, it's a comic. Art: The art is not perfectly crisp and organized, but it has its own style which I find refreshing at times. Emotion is better displayed sometimes, yet it still seems to lack something when compared with something deemed more 'professional'. All in all: A very nice webcomic with some downright hilarious moments. A tad flimsy in places, but I enjoyed it as a casual read. Six out of Ten smiley T-shirts. Review by Xenix Sun Apr 13 2003 08:56 PM

Visitor Reviews & Comments

Huzzah, I say, for ClanBOB has returned! Review by Mr. Unknown Tue Jan 18 2005 10:06 AM

If I may say so, ClanBOB the website and comic went down before (or very soon after, I don't remember) after a man who wrote some sort of superhero story committed suicide. They were in the process, I believe, of remodeling the site and have apparently given up on it. I liked the Life of Riley comic, if nothing more than a diversion from a mundane schoolday. I didn't care much for the backstory or who was doing what, it was something to look at and, dammit, they had some entertaining polls. It's sad to see it go, but there have been other places I've gone to for my comic fix. Review by Mr. Unknown Thu Jan 13 2005 02:21 PM

um, has anyone explained yet what the heck happened to the comic? There's white there, with random quotes and nonsense. Review by Bob Sun Jan 09 2005 11:46 AM

The Life of Riley was a daily suplement of mine for more than a year. The story wasn't incredibly touching, the art not splendid, and the plot got a little confusing, but it was still amazing. It was funny, and cute, and strange, and I liked it more than any other comic. There was something about the complete unbelieveability of it all, the complete lack of focus, that that made it endearing in so many ways. Review by Beat Sun Dec 19 2004 02:22 AM

Does anyone know what the hell happened to the comic LOR? Review by DenRyuu Thu Nov 04 2004 09:29 AM

It's gone... the website doesn't have the forums or the comic or ANYTHING anymore... it's gone. I need it back. Where did it go? Please tell me: tyciol@hotmail.com Review by Tyciol Sat Oct 23 2004 03:45 PM

I admit then when I first started reading the LoR strip, I had the same outlook as many of the reviewers here. "Non-commital plot, Dragonball-Z knock-off, wholly unbelievable." But since the story arcs became more more defined and explained, I actually became pretty sucked into the story. It became less important for me to see the reality behind the comic and more important for me to find out what was going to happen, the mark of a good story. What started out as a "Room-mates with side-story of angels" really started to hit the ground running when it became a fully-fledged story about theology and mythology with a mention of "normal" life people to set the scale. What I see here is a comic that started out as a "This is fun, what else can we do?" project and moulded itself into a really gritty Plot > Characters > Events comic that I, for one, found not only interesting to follow, but also humorous, because while Dan has escalated the story arcs to settings of incredible fancy and god-like power, he still has characters with faults and foibles that inevitably draw out a more down-to-earth feeling. So what I'm left reading has more of a human conflict side than a god vs god side which wouldn't be interesting at all. The artwork in LoR is, perhaps, the only thing that hasn't dramatically improved with the story. In all honesty, Dan doesn't have the style of an accomplished comic artist. But what he draws suits the style of his writing so that even though his art isn't the kind if stuff you'd hang on your wall, it's just the kind of style that you might imagine things being. Also, his use of colour is such that it keeps your eyes roaming, which is good when he uses a lot of text, when other styles might look dowdy and unfocused. All in all, I enjoy this comic a great deal, and give it an honest 15/20. (I also am disturbed at the disappearance of the ClanBOB site, I'd like information on if and when the site will be up again, if anyone has that handy.) Review by Psylight Mon Sep 13 2004 03:05 PM

First rule of review, Loki, never make excessive claims to the excellence of the object, no matter how much you like it. You'll only disappoint your reader. Which I say primarily because I know a lot of web comics readers, creators, and fans. Not a single one of them would ever refer to the paintball war as "the number one moment of online comics...ever." The statement is ridiculous on its face. But I'll explain anyway: the plot was very loosely strung together. The "sequence" of the events was less convoluted than non-existent. It hops from event to event with little to no connection. I sometimes see this with comics when I'm reading them as they come, but when the problem exists (as it does for "Life of Riley) while reading through the events, then the story has problems. The humor I have no problems with. It doesn't stand out, but neither does it drag down. However, it tries to be a story comic these days, and this the writer is very poor at doing. I have read every strip. There are a number things that cannot be explained in context. It simply doesn't make sense. LoR does not pass muster, esp when compared to other story comics that do hold up, like Sluggy Freelance. Review by SaintEhlers Wed Sep 01 2004 11:09 AM

I'm really not sure why some people hate this webcomic so much...as was described before, the comic is a bit goofy sometimes, but that's the point. It's supposed to have some halfway, pseudo-serious plots in it, but otherwise, it is supposed to evoke a cheap laugh. Some of the jokes may seem a bit outlandish, but for those with an open mind and a decent sense of humor, this sort of humor shines forth. Truth be known, if the reader is even remotely well-versed in computer literature and the like, some of the jokes will be made much clearer. The point is, looking too deeply into it and trying to analyze it to the point of overzealousness is the only thing that will make the comic unworthy of reading. The artwork, while not the most incredible, still speaks very highly of the skills of the cartoonist, and I say this as well: To those who think that they can do better, and put out a comic that garners a bigger fan base, knock yourselves out. Until then, quit being so critical and shut up, mercifully keeping your opinions to yourself. Lately, I noticed that something has gone terribly wrong with www.clanbob.net, and I've been rather disgruntled about it. I hope that Aaron and Dan will be able to resolve the issues, because I for one enjoy the comic immensely, and would see it as a crying shame for it just to end... Review by Phelan Kenadras Wed Sep 01 2004 09:47 AM

The statement by Mr. Giant has me shocked and appalled. The paintball war is a classic piece of the history of online comics. No one who I have met that has read of 'the mighty blue projectile' would say otherwise. In fact, I think most of them would vote for it as the number one moment of online comics...ever. I do have to state, however, that I feel that Life of Riley has begun to go downhill ever since the end of the paintball war. I've been loyally following it- with the exception of dreams in digital, which I agree is awful. I have to ask what is so awful about the art style changing, though? And I'm sorry, but they DO explain most things, and if you can't grasp them...*shrugs* it doesn't seem to me like that's the fault of the artist, since *I* got them, and I've never spoken to any of the LOR staff. Also, as for the unexplained goddesses, I believe that, before the site went down, they were getting to that. There are a fair number of characters that are weak, but, since they aren't shown very often...that's a minor drawback. Life of Riley seems to be past it's prime, but I'm still going to read it...once they get their site up again... Review by Loki of the Flame Sun Aug 08 2004 05:14 AM

LoR was a half decent little tale until around March 2004 when the current storyline came out. The art stayed the same but the story turned into a muddled mess packed with constant flashbacks, backstory, and additional characters. It was extremely confusing, and the constant missed deadlines did not help it any. I realized once the comic went on hiatus that I no longer cared. Apparently a friend of the creators passed away and it was used as an excuse to take a break from the strip. Its been about 2 months now. Also, when the strip was active, the tuesday thursday backup strip "Dreams in Digital" was amazingly awful, being a bad screenshot comic based off the cruddy Everquest ripoff Final Fantasy 11. For some reason this strip managed to be updated more than the main one some months! Review by Captain Rufus Fri Jul 23 2004 12:03 PM

Since this review is by someone who calls him or herself Kajamir the Giant, it's pretty funny. I've read Life of Riley since about the start. I loved the game jokes at first, but found several hundred other sites that did the same thing. I also like the turn the comic has gone to in the past year and a half. I think a lot of the reviewers here haven't seen the story recently to know that it was flowing well. "The comic is just non-sensical in overrall run." You know, I could be wrong, but I think that is what they go for sometimes. Nonsensical humor? Wow, isn't that amazing? A web comic with a bit of off the wall humor? I like the comic the most because of the people behind the scenes. The artists, writers and programmers are some of the nicest people you could ever hope to stumble upon. Dan's art has improved greatly over the years and I love seeing Cowkitty's (or any of the other numerous Bobs that provide guest strips) work. If you don’t visit LoR that regularly, you can miss out on a lot of the jokes. That is true with any comic though. I also love it when people who do reviews that are meant to criticize don’t do spell check. It makes me want to go out and read what they dislike even more. Review by Erin Murphy Thu Jul 08 2004 08:26 AM

Myself, being a BOB for nearly 2 years now, have seen LOR progress greatly. I would just like to say that in early 2003 (when most of those reviews were written) LOR wasn't really that great, but now in glorious 2004, it has progressed a lot, the art is better, jokes funnier, story well founded and interesting and just about everything that was wrong with it, has been fixed. So after reading all of these reviews, I implore you to still check out LOR as those outdated and ultimately inaccurate reviews do not do it justice. Review by Zoophagous Wed Jul 07 2004 04:13 PM

As an avid webcomic fan, I must weigh in upon the topic of the Life of Riley. This comic came to my attention about a year ago and as many of you may have also done with other comics, I delved into the archive and read all back issues in one sitting. At first I must say I found it mildly amusing (which may have lended to the lateness of the hour.) However, the plot was convoluted at times, leaping between one-shot jokes and recycled gags, and mssive overarching plot. Often I became lost in the shift between story and side-jokes, and as the plot progressed I became far less impressed at first glance. Overall, I find LOR a tertiary read if I am in the mood, usually late some night near mid week. It is not a comic I would recommend to most people, for there are much better titles out there of 10-fold quality. This reviwer gives LOR 3 out of 10 empty pint glasses. CHEERS! Review by JackSpades007 Tue Apr 27 2004 09:23 AM

LoR is one of those comics you read, and you love, but you never ever reread it, because you'd just flat hate it. Unlike a lot of comics that are funnier when you see the overlying jokes for the whole series, LoR is one of those comics you read, you understand, and you love, but you never try to give too much depth too, because it does all the depth it needs on its own. 8 out of 10 fangs. Review by User1066 Tue Apr 13 2004 07:25 PM

A few idle sidepoints arising from the above reviews, rebutted/answered by an on-and-off reader of LoR: The art style, while not as involved and complex as some, is clean and readable and fits the style of the comic really rather well; I much prefer this to some technically better styles that fill in every available space and confuse the reader to the point of having to examine individual panels for seconds at a time to work out what's going on. And as for side characters... the reason they tend to have little in the way of development is: they are forumgoers and members of ClanBOB itself. Self-insertion, or rather fanbase insertion. Which is good, if you've been a long-term reader, but rather annoying for the outsider. Review by Moltare Mon Feb 16 2004 05:25 PM

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