Pow!

Matt Smith's art is as compelling and enjoyable as ever (the drugged gnomes and the depictions of Ugly's adventurers are standouts) but the story here probably moves a bit too quickly unless it's actually about going to be about something other than what I expected The Folklord is revealed as is a predictable truth about Ansel

The whole metafiction and ironic distance from the cliched fantasy background doesn't connect. Even if Ansel's world is simply a backwater of imaginative construction it would still be more powerful to give it more validity than it has currently. Otherwise why should we care about all these characters and their problems? Only people who know the "truth" seem valid as people.

I'm still reading and I'm still engaged but I'm not feeling that invested.

I have finished reading Logar the Barbarian (in a dead tree version) an amusing Conan-inspired fantasy adventure comic. You can read it online for free at Harvey Finch's website.

The comic is broken down into four seasons and centres around Logar's quest to find his sister.

The tone has the right balance of portentous silliness although its adoption of 16-bit gaming framing devices is much weaker than DungeonQuest and feels unnecessary.

Interestingly Logar's quest ends with a twist but one that seems to confirm fantasy's sexism by creating a treacherous Dark Lover and emphasising the danger of women to men.

Art-wise its pretty good with dynamic art and creative panel use. The art is stylised but consistent creating an ambience.

As a relatively cheap and cheerful tale I got some entertainment but it's not the best use of the genre. I'd welcome a second story.