Broken Frontier

Count the webcomics within the first tier of Top Webcomics and you should find an overwhelming number have something in common – fantasy. Currently ranked #3 on Top Webcomics, Goblins is no different, though the RPG-inspired webcomic tosses in a healthy dose of comedy and drama while it’s at it.

Created by Tarol Hunt and Danielle Stephens, Goblins is sort of a medieval “Reboot” with a Dark Age dose of violence and black humor. The story focuses on a group of demure goblins fighting against a not-so-heroic band of warriors. In addition to being stereotypical fantasy stables, the warriors are in fact creations of gamers, and endowed with similar personality, or in scantly-clad Drowbabe’s case, lack of personality. This isn’t an issue though, as every one of the traditional heroes is matched by a goblin protagonist with quite a lot of personality packed into their punch.

Goblins is also a perfect example of webcomics improving with age. The beginning of the archive is rough black and white, but slowly Goblins picks up steam with better illustrations and the addition of color. The same can be said of the webcomic’s humor. To put it bluntly, RPG-inspired webcomics are a dime-a-dozen and there are a few times in the beginning Goblins treads on all-too-familiar territory, but as the story progresses and the characters evolve, Goblins becomes progressively funnier as the scope increases with the originality.

Aimed directly at the D&D crowd, any gamer and fantasy fan owes Goblins at least one solid read. The webcomic has been placing interchangeably with Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal and The Phoenix Requiem, and given the breadth and intensity of its current storyline, I don’t see it’s momentum halting any time soon.