The concept at first seems at bit iffy: A world where everbody's happy and oblivious, all turns right with no conflict, and a small kid is the town's biggest hero!? Sounds like every fanfic you've ever read, doesn't it? But this one makes a spin on it. It turns non-conflict into a reason for conflict. Characters acknowlede and challenge their situation (Can you believe it? In a webcomic?), with much interesting dialogue and reasoning that'll just surprise you by being there ("Wait, philosophy in a webcomic? What the hell is going on? How did it get here? Why is it so well-fitting?"). In a way, it's as if all those sandbox videogames you play these days had some sense to it. Is much more thal you'd expect from a simple webcomic.
Anyway, the first chapter is pretty lightweight. It's just a way to place the setting for the comic (however confusingly, but always entertaining). Chapter 2 is where things begin to take off. As the story gets more interesting, the characters start to open themselves, and the first conflicts start rolling up, some pretty incredible shit shows up. An Interactive Comic! The strip is actually a Flash file that allows the comic to better simulate the feeling of a timeshifting device. It just surprises you the first time. It's like someone had finally figured out that a comic hosted on the internet can use some of the advantages of said media to enhance the experiece of the story.
Okay, so it might not be as incredible as I'm putting it. There's some other interactive webcomics before, but most stay at this level. This comic will take it further and further as the comic moves on.
Anyway, as the story moves on, plots become more tangled and ambitious, with soome actually clever and amusing climaxes. Attempts are made to reveal the mystery behind (the World of) Reality, and would you believe it, there's a hint to some substance. Not the usual "it was not really an utopia but really a fearsome dictatorship", but something more elaborate. It very early still, but it seems promising.
But best part so far is Chapter 5. As the dust begings to settle on the "Adventures in Marysuetopia" concept, the universe is expanded in a very interesting way, and a plot to explore new, different worlds unravels. Worlds is what they call them, anyway, since they are so close together, but they almost work like different dimensions. The concept of interactive comic is explored again in chapter 5, where the new world makes the timeshifting device turn into a mutated, creepy, Choose Your Own Adventure Gamemaster. From that point foward, most comics will have three posible endings depending on the alternative you choose. For the sake of simplicity, only one is right, while the other two will lead you to some of the most shocking, creepy, unsettling, completely mindfucking demises. It's unbelievable, and you can't help but try every one, even if you got the right one first. There's also a couple of shocks in the format, always keeping you guessing. This chapter was just amazing, and so different to other stuff you've seen before.
In all, the writing is very good. Then there's the art. The art is amazing. Even in it's simplicity and ocassional sketchyness, it's use of colors, lights and shadows make for some nice backgrounds and stunning scenes. The drawing style allows for very varied characters, all with a wide variety of faces and emotions. The dragonfly character, Hawk, is animation gold, even if he looks fairly like an invader Zim ripoff (it's almost imposible to avoid these days with bug-eyed characters). And that's the cutest bunny I've ever seen.
