Least I Could Do

A while ago, I wrote a post about the comic Looking for Group by Ryan Sohmer and Lar DeSouza which a friend of mine introduced me to. He had lent me the first book and I devoured it. Then I went to the website and read the rest of the backstory. I loved the strip. I was bit less interested in the duo's daily strip Least I Could Do.

I would start the backstory and read a couple weeks before giving up. It's not that the strip wasn't funny. It's not that I was offended by the content. It was just that other webcomics kept getting in the way. Finally early last week I decided to sit down and read my way through the backstory. I never follow a webcomic until I have read all the archives. Considering the Least I Could Do started in 2003, I had an uphill battle ahead of me. What I didn't realize is that the more I got to know the characters the harder it was to stop reading. I read the entire 6 years of comics in four days. And I enjoyed every minute of it.

Least I Could Do is the brainchild of Ryan Sohmer. The strip has had three different artists during its 6 year tenure but Ryan has always been the author. The strip mostly follows Rayne, a Don Juan character who spends a majority of the early strips trying to get women into bed. He is surprisingly successful, marking each anniversary (50, 100, 1000). Rayne lives with John, his ever patient teacher roommate who has almost zero success with women. He is surrounded by Mick, who is often the butt of Rayne's jokes, Issa, a female friend that Rayne continues to try to bed, and Noel, his long-time buddy who's been in a committed (now married) relationship for much of the strip.

It was interesting to watch the progression of the strip from the beginning. We see each character as they get older. The early strips often took place either in bars or in Rayne's bed. He was primarily the focus of all of the early strips. As the story has progressed we see more and more of his friends and the focus is often on the relationship between all of them. Not of course saying that Rayne has stopped sleeping around it is just not the focus of all of the jokes. Instead recent years have focused on Rayne's friendship with his 5 year old niece who is a bit of a trouble-maker. Rayne has also picked up a job which he is incredibly successful at and even tolerated by his coworkers.

This strip is filled with hilarious moments, geek references, the occasional disturbing strip, and a lot of great characters. Ryan and Lar have a way of making great ensemble comics with characters that you slowly get to know and like. It is not a strip for the weak of heart though. Rayne is a bit of a womanizer and some might be offended by his cavelier attitude. I found it hilarious. What started out as a bit of a nonsequitor strip has become a great character series. I've added it to my daily comics and can't wait to see what Rayne gets into next.

Looking for Group

It's not often that I get to say this. I completely adore a sadistic, egotistical, violent, undead warlock. As most of you know I'm a pacifist, vegetarian, wouldn't hurt a spider kind of girl. So I'm not sure why Richard of Looking for Group comics struck a chord with me. His first act in the comic series is to incinerate a bunny. And it only gets worse from there.

A friend of mine turned me on to the series over the weekend when he lent me his copy of the book. I devoured it in one afternoon. The action adventure series is hilarious. The story follows Cale, a blood elf (hunter?) who is looking to make things right in the world. He is joined by a alignment questionable Troll priest, a sweet and bookish Tauren, a dwarven bard/warrior, and of course Richard. All of the character have their own humor but it is Richard that makes me laugh out loud. He is just so downright evil.

At one point in the series he is shrunk down and mistaken for a child. He's taken to one of the local nurseries. When the team pulls him out he simply can't understand why he couldn't stay at the buffet. Or when he incinerates two suspects and then tries to interrogate them. Eventually ending with a sad downcast look and the words "interrogations are hard".

The story is mostly sequential so if you start reading it you will need to start at the beginning. The writing by Ryan Sohmer is brilliant and any fan of Dungeons and Dragons or World of Warcraft will love the humor. The art, which is done by Lar deSouza, is just hilarious. His take on characters like Tim, the dim witted orc who follows Cale around calling him chicken, is wonderful. The images are colorful and cartoony and somehow that makes the absurdity of the scenes and the violence of Richard funny. These guys are brilliant. You may already have read their Least I Could Do webcomic which is also hilarious, although I'll warn you--not work appropriate. But Looking for Group has to be one of the best new webcomics I have found in a while. I'm already looking into purchasing printed copies. For a taste of the series, or to read the whole thing, head to Looking For Group. And don't mind Richard, he's chaotic evil. It's all in his alignment.