Full Reviews of Nodwick

of Nodwick by Aaron Williams

I only had limited to time this week for online activities (a couple hours) and was going to pass on doing a review for "Nodwick" because I knew I wouldn't be able to read all the archives. But the previous reviews have been so stellar, I didn't want to miss out. Anyway, I read the 2003 archives and my review is based on that limited selection of material.

I can see why this strip has received such high praise. It takes me back fondly to my fantasy role-playing days (which for me was the mid-1980's when the strip "Wormy" was the big thing in "Dragon" magazine).

When I used to game, we would generally take the adventures seriously, in the sense that we would have our characters react as if their lives were genuinely at stake and they'd really die if they didn't kill the orcs and trolls assaulting them. But despite the contextual seriousness of the in-play adventure, as players, we would constantly be making fun of gaming cliches, riffing on the inherent silliness of our characters, tossing in alternate joke remarks our characters might say, etc.

There's a point to these reminisces. And the point is that "Nodwick", while presenting stories fully within the adventure, somehow magically manages to capture that goofiness and fourth-wall breaking sense of humor that was always just as vital a part of the "Dungeons and Dragons" experience as the adventure itself. The characters in "Nodwick" act as characters being played by long-time gamer geeks with a great sense of humor and a certain ease and mastery with doing the adventuring gig.

Sometimes when a period comic strip inserts anachronistic pop culture references, it just irritates me. It comes off as a cheap laugh that spoils the illusion of the strip's premise. But in "Nodwick" this didn't bother me. Probably because 1) the jokes were always funny, and 2) the insertions were always clever and enhanced the point of the strip.

"Nodwick" also succeeds on another level. Sure, it's all about fantasy role-playing characters, but the writer manages to have their experiences reflect both contemporary and universal situations. The sequence where a couple of kids want to learn the ways of being a bad ass warriors is rich with humor and truth about the need for that kind of manly initiation and the dangers of too much power in the hands of kids. Here's a representative strip from that sequence
http://www.gamespy.com/comics/nodwick/gamespyarchive/gspynod101.html
As you can see, my analysis comes off boorish and pretentious compared to the simple charm of the comic itself.

I don't really feel like getting into parsing my likes and dislikes over the art. While I personally may prefer a little more sophistication in my fantasy art to truly get excited about it (even for humorous fantasy art), the art here compliments the writing just fine. And the various monsters, locales and magic items are very nicely designed with a perfect understanding of the milieu.

The four main characters' differing personality types ("alignments" in D&D speak) play off each other very nicely and the writer constantly mines fresh surprises form their interactions despite our familiarity with them.

After reading so many webcomics that fail or succeed to varying degrees, it is refreshing to read the work of a real pro. I mean there wasn't a single strip that I would call unsuccessful or even mediocre. Each "Nodwick" strip has been crafted at a consistent level of excellence.

Review by The Phantom Critic Sun Aug 17 2003 01:09 PM

Art: The art is very nice, well done, with bright colors and expressive faces. It might not be the most spectacular I've ever seen, but it fits the comic

Characters: Ah, what's life without a henchman? The dynamics of the characters doesn't change much, but that's all right, really. It's not because they're boring people, really, it's just that they're all so convinced that they're right, and as such, don't need to change. All except the loyal henchman Nodwick, who keeps plugging away simply because he's a henchman. Overall, they're very much their own person, and as such can get away with not changing.

Storyline: Well, since I've only read the online version, I can only commment upon that. A lot of them are simply one shots, while the actual story arcs are rather on the short side. Nevertheless, Nodwick isn't meant to be a big story-driven webcomic, depending rather on gags and group interaction.

Overall: A good piece of work, quite entertaining, especially for those that enjoy good roleplaying humor. It's a nicely done, well-executed webcomic that stays true to its spirit. If you want melodrama, go elsewhere, but for a lightspirited and entertaining webcomic, you need go no farther than Nodwick.

Review by Luthorne Sat Aug 16 2003 12:06 AM

Haven't finished reading the archives and I'm already sure that this will be a regular. ^_~

Characters: Warrior, Mage, Cleric, and... Henchman!?

Thus is the cast of Nodwick, who are very human in their stereotypes. I like it, especially in their interactions. Three out of three!

Art: The artwork is crisp, clean, and possesses all the detail I could want, but then.. I'm not picky. ^_^ I enjoy the occasional special effect and the uncluttered look that it brings across. Three out of three.

Plot: Well, there isn't much of one. Broad story arcs get lost or waylaid by trolls, but that's okay. Personally, I like story arcs, but this comic does very nicely without them. It establishes itself superbly as a "here's a scene from the lives of these people" type of comic. Very good for Nodwick. I especially enjoy how it is centered around not just a band of adventurers, but around a henchmen, who are often woefully under-publicized. Three out of three!

Overall: Well, well, well... Um.. I love it. I can't wait to find time to finish the archives, but if I do that now, something else will fall behind. Probably next week's review. :P In all, Nodwick gets my bonus point for a stunning Ten out of Ten.

Review by Xenix Fri Aug 15 2003 04:04 AM

Well now.

I believe I've said before, that I wouldn't give any comic but the best one a 10 out of 10.

I believe I just found it.

I've been reading Nodwick, off and on, for a few years. I was sad when I stopped buying Dragon and Dungeon, the main print avenues for much of it. Until I found the online archives, that is.

Art: Nodwick has a great art style to it; all of the humanoids looks realistic in proportions to me, and he can do any monster you care to think of. In a fantasy setting, that's an important skill, in my opinion. The creator also does a fine job with backrounds....and lesser characters aren't skimped on. Even if they only appear for a few panels, he gives them the same degree of care as we see in, say, Nodwick himself.

Characters: Almost all of the characters in Nodwick are caricatures. But they've been built with care, and poke light-hearted fun at the genre, rather than being cynical. Yes, Yeagar is a perfect example of the dumb warrior, Artax the disconnected wizard, and Piffany the naive cleric. But they're also consistent in this regard, as points out for us.

Plot: There's a nice balance of plot in Nodwick-while individual story arcs can last for some time, they never drag. And while they can be tied in with previous stories, there's no great, overarching drama to it. In more serious comics, this would be a downside, but I think it's the right idea for Nodwick.

Writing: The humor in this comic is great. It's accessible to those who aren't big D&D or fantasy fans, but being either one just makes it better. While there are common themes (the biggest being Nodwick's repeated deaths), there's very little repetition or boredom that I could find. Definitely a plus, considering how long it's been going. I do wish the comic books were available on the site as well, but that's just idle wishing. If he can make more money off of Nodwick, then I'd love to support him. Also, small asides such as Light Side/Dark Side are good enough that I'd like to see more of it....though not at Nodwick's exclusion!

Overall: 10 out of 10, definitely. Nodwick is one of, if not the best, comic that I've read online. I look forward to tomorrow's strip.

Review by Benor Wed Aug 13 2003 11:33 AM

Nodwick is a very lovable light hearted humor based comic set in a Dungeons and Dragons type world of magic and mischief. The creator's mix of enjoyable bright art and playful writing is a real treat, sort of like Escher's qualities with a funny bone.

Nodwick is about the world's most pathetic schlep. He's a henchman to a motley group consisting of Piffany: a passive/aggressive priest with a 'traumatically positive upbringing', Yeagar: a lunk of a swordsman who uses poor Nodwick as an all purpose implement, and Artax: a rascal of a wizard who typically enables Yeagar's lack of concern for Nodwick for fun and profit. Nodwick, as a henchman, is under a contract that makes working in the slums of a third world country look nice. He's got to carry an obscene amount of loot to being a makeshift grappling hook, amongst things. He dies time and time again in the line of loyal hauling and schlepping, yet is forever brought back to his humorous walking nightmare by the overly good natured and gullible Piffany.

The group dynamics make this comic what it is. The entire group is fun to read about. While the online version is mainly short run or one shot adventures, the comics go a little more in depth of epic adventure as well as character depth. I highly recommend getting them.

I don't have anything bad to say about Nodwick. It's a real pleasure to read (alas, updating only every Thursday on the website due to the creator's busy schedule), a welcome bit of variety to today's modern violence and anguish scenarios set in medievil times.

Case in point, Nodwick points the comical back in comic. I give Nodwick a snazzy 10 of 10 stars. It's just that good and I'd recommend it to most anyone who can at least appreciate a lil gaming humor or cartoonish comedy in general.

Review by Kajamir the Giant Sun Aug 10 2003 10:54 PM

I give this one ten of ten. Maybe because i'm biased. I love Nodwick. I love the way Aaron manages to get me to laugh for hours on end. I love that little duct-taping cleric Piffany. I've got almost every paperback comic that Aaron has made until now and i regret not regularly buying Dragon to get at his comics in that magazine.

Artwork: You can't help but loving it. All the possible way to harm and maim a henchman...Ah, one just have to love it. Aaron's been working with art for a long time and it shows. He's good. He does good 'scenery' too.

Plot: Wether our heroes are 'rescuing' fair maidens from evil dragons, defating evil cults, battling superheroes, fighting anti-paladins or defeating a parody of Bill Gates trying to take over all magic Aaron always manages to get something that calls the laughter(Like henchman sarcasm before said henchman suffers a particularly gruesome but extremely funny death) into the picture. I like it.

Characters: Nodwick the Henchman. Piffany the duct-taping Cleric. Artax the spell-flinging Wizard. Yeagar the henchman-flinging Warrior. And many many more. All these are characters you'll come to know and love when you read Nodwick. They are very well-made and have highly developed(Or under-developed in Yeagar's case) and funny personalities.

Overall: 10 out of 10. Go read. Go buy. My only words for you concerning this comic.

Review by Writer Sun Aug 10 2003 06:41 PM

"The titular character, Nodwick, is a hireling in the employ of a typical Dungeons & Dragons-style adventuring party. Nodwick is serialized in Dragon Magazine, on nodwick.com, and is available in various print collections; a Nodwick card game is also available." more...

Read Full Review by Wikipedia contributors at Wikipedia Tue May 18 2004

Summary Reviews for this title | Submit a title for review | Title Index