Puck

URL: puck.smackjeeves.com
Creator/s: "ElectricGecko"
Run: 7/11-current
Schedule: Mondays
Section/s: Strips 107-126

Website: The design looks pretty good for a Smack Jeeves comic, and the cast page is done rather professionally.

The creator seems to regularly offer fan-service voting incentives, such as "Puck's sexy holiday pic," a "champagne-soaked bikini party," and a "hot and steamy Valentine's pic."

Writing: I get the impression that most creators of fan-service comics would balk at the idea of their work being considered as less than serious, but the creator of Puck doesn't seem to treat his webcomic as anything pretentious. My reaction to this is mixed: It's good because the creator has a clear and honest understanding of what he's doing, but it's bad because I feel like the creator's largely abandoned the pursuit of quality.

Like I'd expect from any fan-service comic, the artist's ability to draw women is exceptional but the writing has no appealing aspect. In the 20 strips I read, none of the "jokes" demonstrated any skill or creativity. I feel like the creator often tries to tell a joke more out of an implied obligation than because he thinks he has a good idea for a gag. And it's not like he cares enough to come up with an actual story -- or does he really think giving his sexy female characters jobs at Hooters is a clever idea for a story arc?

Unsurprisingly, the creator offers three distinct flavors of sexy women for his reads to ogle over, making sure no one's left out. We have Puck, the nice, responsible chick; Daphne, the snarky, nerdy chick; and Phoebe, the hot, hedonistic chick. They're also various fantasy races (elf, furry, and demon, respectively), but their nonhuman status doesn't make any difference, and for some unexplained reason, no one ever seems to notice that they look unusual. A good deal of the comic's attempted humor concerns these characters' idiotic boyfriends, who the women often complain about but never show any affection or attraction towards. The comic doesn't try to explain why these beautiful women are with losers instead of someone more appealing, but as long as the creator feels like he can continue to get cheap gags out of this situation, I don't expect the relationships in the comic to get more realistic.

Art: The creator's quite a capable artist, especially when it comes to drawing attractive women, and it's a shame he isn't making better use of his talents.

Overall: There's an alternate dimension somewhere in which this creator cares about writing well and Puck's a good webcomic. This path is certainly more challenging than continuing to draw sexy women and attracting certain readers drawn to webcomics with lots of fan-service, but I think every creator owes it to themselves to always strive to make improvements in some area. And it's certainly possible for a webcomic to have sexy women and quality writing at the same time.

3/5