So at first I figured "yeah, alright, a little bit of absurdist and sexual humor in a fantasy universe, I can deal with that", and then I slowly stopped being able to deal with that, for some reason. Call me old fashioned, but I've never been a huge fan of the shock gag. Sure, when it's done right it can be great, but most of the time if you build up what seems to be some kind of clever joke and just cap it off with "balls! haha!", I'm not going to laugh. Just isn't something I can do. As there were a good few of these kinds of jokes in OGLAF, initially, I was beginning to think that perhaps this series wasn't for me.
But then, possibly my favorite comedic trope showed up: the running gag. This comic's loaded with 'em. The cumsprite, the two adventurers seeking various fountains, the falcon with laser vision, and my personal favorite, the ghost of the lizard of guilt. I swear to god, I lost my sh*t at the idea of that stupid lizard following people around just trying to rain on their parades (http://oglaf.com/night-shame/). Hearing what it said in a generic ghostly "ooOOooOOooo!" kind of voice just made it too much. What a life that would be.
Then there are the occasional one-off jokes that just seem to work. A time where the shock gag pulls it off right. This (http://oglaf.com/breastplate/) is a prime example. It's not relying of the absurdly graphic nature of the comic to deliver the joke, and its not even that crude. Well, not that crude when compared to the rest of the series. There's just something that really tickles me about how out of place something like engraving "slut" into a breastplate is in this world.
To top it all off: dat art. I'd be interested to know what else this author is involved in; clearly they've been art-ing for quite a while. The line work is great, the palette selection on most of the comics is phenomenal, and even the designs of the various characters and creatures is spot-on. I really appreciate how you can tell exactly what kind of personality or role a character/creature fits into based solely on their appearance. It's all solid A-tier work.
-Will Avery
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