What do you think?
Rate this book
Sluggy Freelance #1
Is It Not Nifty?
Sluggy Is It Not Nifty? (Book 1)
160 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1998
2 people are currently reading
26 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 29, 2010
I found Sluggy on accident.
I left Sluggy because it became too much to read on the internet.
I loved Sluggy in between.
I miss Sluggy.
:)
If you get a chance to go back and read the first adventures you will find a wonderful funny blend of sci-fi geekdom. If you can't get into the plot - there's always a homicidal bunny ;)
I left Sluggy because it became too much to read on the internet.
I loved Sluggy in between.
I miss Sluggy.
:)
If you get a chance to go back and read the first adventures you will find a wonderful funny blend of sci-fi geekdom. If you can't get into the plot - there's always a homicidal bunny ;)
August 30, 2016
I've been reading these online - didn't realize they'd been published as books! Not that I need to add more books to my to-read list for the year... but... anyway...going back and adding to the list for April since I started these last month :)
November 25, 2025
Nowadays it is more accessible than it once was to make a webcomic and put it online (I very nearly said that it was EASIER than it used to be, but there is certainly nothing easy about making a comic, of any quality). This means that webcomics of the modern era are pretty much about anything and everything.
Once upon a time however, the realm of webcomicing felt like a domain that belonged to those of a very specific, niche set of skills: someone who had the computer know-how that it took to make a website (or at least the familiarity with the Internet for it to occur to them to publish their comic online in a time when this might not have been the first instinct), and art skill + the time to use it. This combination of traits often combined to create webcomics about computer/tech humor, room-mate and young-adult/college shenanigans, and lots of nerdy pop-culture references, particularly to stuff like d&d, buffy the vampire slayer, and star trek. Such webcomics, though begun irreverently with a disregard for any kind of realism or genuine morality ("The neighbor is a zany cultist who needs to borrow a kitchen knife for their sacrificial ritual!" would be quintessential webcomic humor), would slowly become more involved and take itself with increasing seriousness as the author grew bored with gag-a-day style formula, and began desiring to write serious stories ("Oh no, our cultist neighbor has used the unborn child of the female lead as the vessel for a demon that will destroy the world!").
Many webcomics used SOME of these tropes. Sluggy Freelance is composed almost entirely of them.
Room-mates Torg (a website designer) and Riff (he seems to have no job aside from making killer robots and engaging in mad-science tinkering) are a pair of basic doofuses who like things like girls, beer, tv, and adventuring in other dimensions. They have a neighbor named Zoe who is the 'straight woman ' to their madness and the typical female character. They also have a pet lop named Bunbun, who is a switchblade and gun-wielding jerk whose selfishness and generally unpunished malice would make him entirely at home in a Dan Harmon show alongside Rick or Pierce. Other wacky characters show up, some sticking around, others passing by as one-time gags as the characters fight santa, get lost in space, and meet not-Mulder and not-Scully. It is, in short, the kind of comic you could only have as the result of a great big nerd being allowed to draw and write what they please without too great concern with winning the approval of a mainstream audience or a publisher. It is a beautiful mess, the kind that only a webcomic begun in the 90s could achieve.
Once upon a time however, the realm of webcomicing felt like a domain that belonged to those of a very specific, niche set of skills: someone who had the computer know-how that it took to make a website (or at least the familiarity with the Internet for it to occur to them to publish their comic online in a time when this might not have been the first instinct), and art skill + the time to use it. This combination of traits often combined to create webcomics about computer/tech humor, room-mate and young-adult/college shenanigans, and lots of nerdy pop-culture references, particularly to stuff like d&d, buffy the vampire slayer, and star trek. Such webcomics, though begun irreverently with a disregard for any kind of realism or genuine morality ("The neighbor is a zany cultist who needs to borrow a kitchen knife for their sacrificial ritual!" would be quintessential webcomic humor), would slowly become more involved and take itself with increasing seriousness as the author grew bored with gag-a-day style formula, and began desiring to write serious stories ("Oh no, our cultist neighbor has used the unborn child of the female lead as the vessel for a demon that will destroy the world!").
Many webcomics used SOME of these tropes. Sluggy Freelance is composed almost entirely of them.
Room-mates Torg (a website designer) and Riff (he seems to have no job aside from making killer robots and engaging in mad-science tinkering) are a pair of basic doofuses who like things like girls, beer, tv, and adventuring in other dimensions. They have a neighbor named Zoe who is the 'straight woman ' to their madness and the typical female character. They also have a pet lop named Bunbun, who is a switchblade and gun-wielding jerk whose selfishness and generally unpunished malice would make him entirely at home in a Dan Harmon show alongside Rick or Pierce. Other wacky characters show up, some sticking around, others passing by as one-time gags as the characters fight santa, get lost in space, and meet not-Mulder and not-Scully. It is, in short, the kind of comic you could only have as the result of a great big nerd being allowed to draw and write what they please without too great concern with winning the approval of a mainstream audience or a publisher. It is a beautiful mess, the kind that only a webcomic begun in the 90s could achieve.
February 9, 2022
Some comics are born great, and some achieve greatness.
Early Sluggy Freelance is undoubtably the weakest, with the roughest art and more emphasis on random gag-a-day humor than serious plotlines; but from these humble beginnings, greatness will eventually emerge.
It is indeed nifty; and in time, it will become truly awesome.
Pluses of book format: no Internet connection required, exclusive bonus story
Minuses of book format: no chapter/sub-chapter headings (useful for referring to specific stories), no handy reference links (not yet significant, but will become more so as the story becomes increasingly continuity-heavy)
Early Sluggy Freelance is undoubtably the weakest, with the roughest art and more emphasis on random gag-a-day humor than serious plotlines; but from these humble beginnings, greatness will eventually emerge.
It is indeed nifty; and in time, it will become truly awesome.
Pluses of book format: no Internet connection required, exclusive bonus story
Minuses of book format: no chapter/sub-chapter headings (useful for referring to specific stories), no handy reference links (not yet significant, but will become more so as the story becomes increasingly continuity-heavy)
March 8, 2018
Sluggy Freelance is a behemoth of a comic and one of the best of all time. However... it didn't exactly start strong. Sure, it took the start and made it into something amazing, but this book by itself is pretty stilted. Luckily it picks up quick and stays good for years and years and years after this!
November 3, 2016
Very uneven - the best bits are OK, the worst bits are terrible. Very little sign of the bright future ahead, but then back in 1997 it must have been difficult to imagine anything meaningful about the future of webcomics.
Anyway, I don't have a review for this book itself, but I reviewed the first three books together over here on my blog.
Anyway, I don't have a review for this book itself, but I reviewed the first three books together over here on my blog.
March 7, 2013
There is a lot of promise of what the series will become, and the silliness is already there, though the story telling is a bit awkward as he finds a direction to go, but some of it is already very good and very funny, with entertaining, engaging characters. The art gets a lot better, and the storytelling is very good when it's good, and otherwise is a little jerky.
May 14, 2014
This is the first collection of strips from the webcomic
Sluggy Freelance
. The art is somewhat crude. The storylines are simplistic. Some of the gags are dated. But I continue to laugh out loud.
March 6, 2016
Classic early Sluggy fun.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews