I love Elf Only Inn

Honestly I do.

It wasn't until last Friday's strip that I realised how much I really enjoyed the crazy antics of Josh Sortelli's characters. It had been a particularly bad day for me, I was grouchy, snappish and incredibly stressed when I started on my usual webcomic fix for the day. Most of the comics that day seemed to have lost their zest for me.

"PVP... Bah, Some Hellboy joke I don't get.". "Errant Story... Ick. Another long draggy page with nothing but conversation. Boooring...". "Zebra Girl... Still not updated. Dammit! I wanna know what comes up next!". "Megatokyo... No comic... Piro's got writer's block again? So what else is new? :\.

Next on the list was Elf Only Inn. I looked upon it for a moment with jaded eyes... and laughed for the first time that day.

That comic sticks in my head long after I've finished reading the page. I find myself giggling over the memory of it while food shopping at Sainsburys or when I'm struggling with exceptionally boring maths. In my book, that's the hallmark of a really good comic. To be able to stick with the reader long after the read is over.

I'm not sure what is it that makes Elf Only Inn so good. For a comic that started out as a deliberate cut-n-paste, it's progressed into something quite unique. Maybe it's the original concept of the role-playing chatroom, or the lovable characters that Sortelli somehow manages to bring to life, or just the way the comic captures the so much of human nature.

Whatever it is; Sortelli's got it.


Disclaimer: The rant has nothing to do with the fact I find Sortelli's newest character, Geoph incredibly cute.

No. Really. ;)

(The image of Geoph I 'borrowed' from Sortelli's cast page. I hope he doesn't mind.)