Broken Frontier

First off, for a webcomic based on and using World of Warcraft, Cru the Dwarf looks pretty darn good. A lot of video game-based art and most MMORPG-based webcomics look rather flat and stagnant when broken down into panels, but Cru the Dwarf has an extremely fresh and dynamic vision to each panel, taking perfect advantage of World of Warcraft’s animated look and feel.

It is also great to see a semi-serious World of Warcraft story depicted in the actual game of World of Warcraft, in a world where LOL, DM and Noob are just as much a part of the language as Tolkien-esque elf-speak and other parts of the fantasy lexicon. One of the recent comics showcases the contrast, as one such noob approaches one of the villains and asks – in painfully abbreviated AIM speech – to be “run thru DM.” The fact Cru’s creators had the newbie appear right after a dramatic death sequence and tense selection of dialogue makes the contrast even more hilarious.

Unfortunately, the video game artwork seems to require more exposure than the average webcomic. It’s easy to get lost in one of Cru’s pages if there is too much happening or if there is too much spread over too many pages. Fortunately, Cru seems to have corrected this in later webcomic additions. Another problem is the Drunk Duck webcomic has very little information on the creator or the creation – I didn’t even find any mention of the creator’s name outside of Cru.

Lastly, let’s talk about what Cru the Dwarf has more than anything else – fan service and lots of it. They say sex sells, but Cru the Dwarf might go a bit overboard. On one hand, it makes sense, as the character of Cru is – like many a webcomic creation – a noted pervert who is always getting into trouble. But with an animated gif promoting the fan service on their Top Webcomics banner as well as a header book-ended by the naked outline of a female elf, Cru starts feeling way too crass by comparison. Even Twisted Kaiju Theater – which boasts foul-mouthed radioactive lizards and a gallery of Kaiju girls – pales in comparison. The difference is that Twisted Kaiju Theater is always funny; whereas Cru’s rampant sex-talk starts sounding like a one-trick pony.

This isn’t to say Cru the Dwarf – the webcomic – is not funny. It’s a great webcomic with an even greater potential. It just has to start thinking with its head instead of – well, you know the rest. This isn’t an impossible balance to find – webcomics like Least I Could Do have managed to blend the risqué humor into a meaningful story, and Cru the Dwarf seems to be on the right path – it just needs take down a poster or two and put a clamp on Cru’s sex talk.