Elwood

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Rating Summary

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Background
This was a strip listed in the BWW as needing a review. Looking at a few strips, it is easy to see why.

Downfall
This comic always sucked.

Story and Plot
Not applicable, as it is a gag strip.

Art review
Simplified toony drawings, mostly in black-and-white but sometimes in color, with minimal backgrounds and detailing and no shading. The style has stayed the same throughout the webcomic's run.

Writing review
Unfortunately the site doesn't allow direct links to individual strips, so I must post copies of them here:

''The first strip. Unfortunately, the jokes don't get much better.''

The scenario is as follows. Elwood and Meche are two dogs who are the pets of a faceless man they refer to as "The Master" or "The Chief":

I guess the animals can talk to each other but not to humans.

And like many cartoon characters, Elwood has a shoulder-angel and a shoulder-devil, but unique to him, he has a sort of intermediate character as well:

But evidently, none of them are aware that chocolate is toxic to dogs.

But wait, there's more! In one strip, Elwood befriends a wild fox whom he catches digging through some garbage:

Presumably, Elwood isn't afraid of getting rabies.

Said fox has a brother:

Well, for Garfield the cat, Mondays always go wrong for him.

Other characters include a duck named Elle:

Probably the least likable character in this story.

And a second duck named Ruffy:

And probably the least intelligent character in this story.

As indicated by the strips shown, the comic is mostly gags:

A rare strip that is actually funny.

Well, there is at least one storyline strip, about a war between cats and dogs:

How the war starts.

Everyone gets ready...

...on both sides...

...and commence fighting!

''Wait! What's this?''

Talk about an anticlimax.

Well, so ends the war.

Some might claim it is a satire on the then-current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; I prefer to believe the proceeding was simply a failed attempt at silly humor.

In any case, though this review seems to have more pictures than words, the pictures say it all. The characters are unappealing, the jokes are dry and hardly funny, and the author is no Jim Unger or Gary Larson; he sometimes incorporates weirdness into his webcomic, but the weirdness is weirdness without being witty. If the strips shown here tickle your funny bone, Elwood is for you. If they don't, forget it. I haven't read every strip in the archive, but I've seen enough to know that the webcomic doesn't improve over time.

Author biography
The author in his own words.

Conclusion
The website does have a cute animated dog on top (the author is also an animator), but the webcomic associated with it is a dud. If you want a funny comic strip involving non-anthropomorphic pets, there are many better choices, such as Mutts.

Links
The author's own description of this webcomic.