Sluggy Freelance is a long-running webcomic written and drawn by Pete Abrams. It started in 1997 and is one of the oldest successful webcomics. As of 2012, it had hundreds of thousands of readers. Abrams was one of the first comic artists successful enough to make a living from a webcomic.
While the strip began as a gag-a-day-based series in which the three main protagonists (Torg, Riff and Zoë) would stumble from one brief, bizarre, parody-centric adventure to the next, the characters and plotlines gradually became more complex and serious. Some critics have praised the humor of the strip and its use of subject matter not available in newspaper comics, while others have criticized the long and complex stories and continuity.
Creation
Sluggy Freelance started on August 25, 1997. In an interview, creator Pete Abrams said that he had always hoped the strip could become his full-time job, and treated it like a job from the start. According to Abrams, he promoted the comic to friends, at conventions, and in posts on newsgroups, and popularity came from "organic credibility". In the interview, Abrams said that the initial plan was to write the original characters out of the story as new ones were introduced, to keep the strip fresh, but a couple years later he found out he liked the characters so much that he stuck with them.
In its early days, the strip was hosted on Big Panda, but today has its own website.
In a 2007 interview Abrams would not reveal the origins for the name "Sluggy Freelance", instead joking that he couldn't hear the question and that his great-grandfather was named "Sluggy Freelance". According to a 2014 article in Comic Book Resources, the "Mokhadun" storyline provided an in-canon explanation for the title, "which has been a source of consternation for webcomic pundits for nearly two decades". This relates to a god named 'Sluggy', related to main character Bun-Bun. The donor-only blog operated by Abrams mentioned that the web server originally ran slowly (sluggishly).
Abrams draws the strip on card stock and uses Photoshop for lettering and coloring. He intends the comic to end in the late 2020s.
Premise According to a 1999 review, Sluggy Freelance followed the adventures of Riff, a self-described freelance bum and inventor, and Torg, a web site designer trying to make a living. They are aided, or sometimes hindered, by a Mini Lop rabbit named Bun-bun. Early characters also include their neighbor Zoë, the strip's straight woman, and Dr. Lorna, a parody of talk show psychologist Dr. Laura. A 2002 review described the comic as "telling a complex ongoing story in a punchline-a-day style... His characters, a pack of cheerfully put-upon twentysomethings... frequently fight killer robots and drop into alternate dimensions as Abrams parodies popular film, television, and video games." Writing for CBR, Larry Cruz said in 2014 that the characters "form a sort of Scooby team that encounters ghosts, mad scientists, aliens and holiday mascots on the reg. The comic is epic in nature, yet it's adamant in its refusal to take itself seriously."
While the strip started as a gag-a-day comic, it soon expanded into complex storylines. Abrams said that he felt able to have longer story arcs because readers could catch up with stories through the online archive. As time progressed he wanted to write longer and more involved stories, and in order to tell the story quickly enough, he added more panels to each daily strip.
Main characters
Characters in Sluggy Freelance include:
Torg: an "everyman" character, Torg is the protagonist in most storylines. He begins as a hapless and lazy freelance web designer, including being fired from a company for absences from work. While impulsive and not so bright, he sometimes comes up with surprising but clever solutions to problems. Despite being a thin young adult, Torg is a highly skilled marksman, and often displays unusual athleticism in dangerous situations, and his fighting skills greatly improved after many years of bizarre adventures (to the point of apparently even impressing Bun-bun). He also has a strong spirit, evident when he easily beat K'Z'K to a pulp in his own mental dimension. He seems to have problems with steady or stable relationships, as most of the women with any romantic designs on Torg have generally found themselves dead, emotionally traumatized, or otherwise not well off. He became somewhat mentally unstable due to Riff and Zoë's supposed deaths in a 2009 storyline. Riff: an inventor with a fondness for explosives. Riff is a genius whose creations typically lead to mayhem and destruction. His inventions have been extremely varied (though he has a love for heavy firepower), and often play key roles in plot lines. Among his inventions have been the Dimensional Flux-Agitator (a device used for moving matter between dimensions), a time machine (not Y2K-compatible), and a gigantic mecha-style robot featuring enough firepower for a modern army with an AI cribbed from an old See 'n Say. His biological mother was revealed early in the strip to be Dr. Lorna, a Dr. Laura-esque radio personality whom he blames for ruining his life. Riff usually wears a trench coat and his face is never seen without his sunglasses. Riff is Jewish; he wields a Star of David against vampires and celebrates Hanukkah. According to novelist John Ringo, who corresponded with Pete Abrams while doing a crossover, Riff was originally based on a deceased friend of Abrams' named Paul Kilzer. Zoë: the strip's straight woman, Zoë Bean is probably the sanest character, often acting as the voice of reason. She often gets swept up in the group's adventures either entirely by accident or against her will. There has been unspoken romantic tension between Zoë and Torg, Zoë seemed not to be explicitly aware of what feelings she might have for him, while Torg, has thought he is in love with her, but has been unable or unwilling to act on these feelings. In a 2009 storyline, Zoë finally comes to realize that Torg is indeed in love with her. A magical necklace, a gift from Torg, has somehow become attached to Zoë, and now manifests only as a tattoo based on its original shape. The presence of this necklace causes her to be transformed into a camel on the magic word "Shupid" and restored on the word "Kwi". She was presumed to be dead after being transported to another dimension with Riff. However, she was seen alive but in a horrifically burned condition in an alternate dimension with Riff. By clever trickery, Riff managed to restore Zoë to her pre-burned condition. Zoë is half-Korean. Bun-bun: talking Mini Lop rabbit who is very mean and carries a switchblade. Bun-bun is manipulative, violent, amoral, easily angered and extremely vengeful. He is rude to all the other members of the group, shows no concern for their feelings, and has made it clear on numerous occasions that he has no interest in helping them, even when their lives were at risk. Though physically a small rabbit, Bun-bun is more powerful than much of the rest of the cast, possessing great strength disproportionate to his size. He has a collection of weapons, his second favorite after the switchblade being a Glock handgun. Most of his origin is unknown: Bun-bun himself has stated that many of his memories prior to meeting Torg are hazy, at best. Bun-bun has had a long-running war with Santa Claus, and once accidentally killed the Easter Bunny and assumed the role for a time. References and parodies of Bun-bun have appeared in other media, such as an AI character based on him in John Ringo's Council Wars series, a vehicle named after him in Ringo's Aldenata series, and references in the card game Munchkin. Gwynn: A friend of the main characters who likes to dabble in witchcraft. While sardonic, selfish, often violent, and manipulative, she has proven her loyalty to her friends several times. She and Riff have dated in the past. In storylines around 2007, she came to regard the rest of the cast as not being her friends and has admitted she believes everyone will hurt her at some point, and that is why she may try to hurt them first. Through seeing a psychiatrist, she has come to regard the others as a surrogate family. She has gained an antagonistic attitude towards Torg, caused by her false belief that he hates her. She is a practitioner of black magic with heavy ties to both the Book of E-Ville and the demon K'Z'K. Having been possessed twice by the Voweless, she attempted to drop magic but circumstances keep drawing her back in. Kiki: a sweet-natured talking ferret. She is hyperkinetic, has a microscopic attention span, and has a dark past as a former lab animal. She belonged to Sam for a time after Bun-bun took over the lab and released the animals, then came into the care of Riff. Kiki is like a small child in many respects. Even though she can be annoying at times, most of the other characters seem to have a soft spot for her and will help her in times of need. When fed sugar she can move at supersonic speeds, which has been weaponised. Kiki seems particularly fond of Bun-bun, which irritates him.
Traditions
Sluggy Freelance has featured several yearly recurring themes, although many of them have eventually been broken or discontinued due to developments in the overall plot.
In an early 1998 plotline, one of Riff's inventions sent Torg to the "Dimension of Pain." Every Halloween afterwards for several years, a different demon was sent to Earth to try to bring him back, failing in amusing and unexpected ways.
Bun-bun has tried to kill Santa Claus every Christmas, with continuously escalating violence; the fact that Bun-bun became the Easter Bunny early on in the strip merely added spice to the relationship. There was a break in the tradition when Bun-bun was thrown out of time and was not present in 2005, and aside from an attack more inconveniencing than dangerous in 2006 he has not resumed the feud.
Also on almost every Christmas/Hanukkah, Torg and Riff have attempted to continue their own, private tradition of giving each other "a beer every year." Usually they never quite get it right, for a variety of reasons, including being trapped in a mummy's tomb, selling their shoulders for science, and other random occurrences.
Every year on 25 August, the comic features a small animation to commemorate the comic's anniversary, most of which involve Kiki singing karaoke. The Fifth Anniversary, August 25, 2002, fell on a Sunday, which traditionally was reserved for full color extended comics. This comic combined the two themes, presenting a full-color animated comic, which advanced one frame at a time.
In every New Year's Eve storyline, Bun-bun gets drunk on 151 Rum, which results in his being uncharacteristically kind and courteous (such as apologizing to Torg or praising the main cast).
Other guest strips and crossovers
Guest strips Abrams invites other well-known webcomic artists to do the strip for a week once or twice a year, while he goes on vacation. A frequent result is a parody of the strip itself, other webcomics, other creative works and/or artists, including Scooby-Doo and Ayn Rand. Clay Yount of Rob and Elliot was guest artist several times prior to taking over Saturday duties. Abrams also has various other artists providing art for Saturdays and Sundays, most recently Stuart Taylor and Lauren Taylor of Chain Bear.
Crossovers and references to Sluggy Freelance in webcomics