The webcomic's logonote
Elwood (formerly known as D.W.) is a Fan Webcomic based on the Arthur series released on DeviantArt by Vederick, with the first strip being released in 2015. It is a Fan Sequel to the series set four years after the time of the show, with D.W. and her friends now being in elementary school, and Arthur and his friends being preteens.The comic initially focused mainly on D.W. and her friends, but eventually expanded to focus on all of the characters from the original series.
Read the comic here
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Not to be confused with another Arthur Fan Webcomic of the same name by ElwoodGuy.
Elwood contains examples of the following:
- Adaptational Sexuality: Mr. Ratburn is shown married to Paige Turner; this happens before the show established he was gay [[note]]Although there is a possibility he is actually bisexual since the show never says he's gay, only shows him marrying another man, and the author decided not to make such a big retcon to try to match the comic's continuity with the show's.
- Anywhere but Their Lips: D.W. and James kiss several times over the course of the webcomic, but always on the cheek. Good thing too, as they are only eight years old.
- The Big Damn Kiss: In the "Overdue" strip, D.W. decides to pay James back for the kiss he gave her four years ago by kissing him back. Aww! At the end of the "Play-Date" Story Arc, James returns the favor.
- The Bully: Dennis, who makes fun of Original Character Mallory Quackenbush all because she happens to be a duck.
- Call-Back: Some strips focus on resolving plot threads from the show, most notably the "Play-Date" arc, which focuses on more or less resolving the Ship Tease between D.W. and James from the show.
- Character Title: The comic was originally called "D.W.", but the name was changed to "Elwood" when it started focusing more on all the residents of Elwood City rather than just D.W. and her friends.
- Cheshire Cat Grin: In the last panel of "Party Manic - Part 4", D.W. gives one that would even make The Grinch proud.
- Continuity Nod: Given that the webcomic is a Fan Sequel to Arthur, there are naturally several small nods to events from that series.
- Enfant Terrible: Played for Laughs with Mr. Ratburn and Paige Turner's son, Ryan. He has ambitions to Take Over the World, but his stated plans for doing so are so cartoonish and over-the-top that it's hard to take him seriously.
- Expy: Mallory, Valerie, and Sara-Lee Quackenbush are basically Gender Flippped versions of Huey, Dewey, and Louie, right down to having a rich uncle.
- Fan-Created Offspring: Mr. Ratburn and Paige Turner have one, Ryan Ratburn. He happens to be an Enfant Terrible with plans to Take Over the World.
- Fan Sequel: To Arthur.
- Fantastic Racism: Crossed over with Furry Reminder. "D.W.'s Big Hit - Part 1" has a dog boy named Dennis making racist (speciest?) remarks towards an Original Character named Mallory Quackenbush for being a duck, leading to him being punched by D.W. for it.
- Furry Reminder: In "D.W.'s Big Hit - Part 1", Dennis bullies Mallory Quackenbush specifically because she happens to be a duck.
- Gamer Chick:
- Annika Lundgren is a particularly ruthless example who gives her opponents absolutely no quarter in multiplayer games, which is justified because she has ambitions to go pro someday.
- Jane Read is an adult example; she enjoys playing what appears to be a medieval fantasy Role-Playing Game with her husband, David.
- The Ghost: The rich uncle of the Quackenbush triplets has yet to appear in person.
- Handsplay in Theater: Part of a gag in the "Out of Hand" strip. James grabbed D.W.'s hand while watching a movie he found scary with her at the cinema without even realizing it, and after the movie ends, D.W. points out his grip on her hand. He snatches his hand away from her in embarrassment, only for D.W. to forcefully grab it again, stating that she actually didn't mind him gripping her hand.
- Interspecies Romance: The Puppy Love between D.W. and James (aardvark and rabbit), Sarah and Liam (aardvark and bear), George (moose) and Ladonna (rabbit), Original Character Ryan's (rat) crush on Mei Lin (bear), which may or may not be reciprocated, as well as the marriage between Mr. Ratburn and Paige Turner (rat and rabbit).
- Made Out to Be a Jerkass: In the "D.W.'s Big Hit" arc, D.W. punches Dennis in the face in retaliation for him bullying her new classmate Mallory Quackenbush for being a duck and is treated as the bad girl by her teacher, classmates and Mr. Read for it. Sounds familiar...
- Multiple Demographic Appeal: The author has stated that the webcomic is going for this and that if it were a TV show like the original Arthur, it would be the kind that both kids and their parents/guardians can appreciate on its own merits.
- No Full Name Given: The surname of The Bully Dennis has not been revealed.
- O.C. Stand-in:
- D.W.'s elementary school teacher, Rocco Dilliday, is the unnamed background crocodile character from the show.
- Dennis, The Bully of D.W.'s elementary school, was mentioned in the book D.W.'s Guide to Perfect Manners as a boy who wet his pants in class but never actually appeared, allowing the author to come up with his own characterization and design for him from scratch.
- D.W.'s elementary school teacher, Rocco Dilliday, is the unnamed background crocodile character
- Original Character: D.W.'s new classmate Mallory Quackenbush and her twin sisters Valerie and Sara-Lee.note .
- Pay Evil unto Evil: Averted. D.W. punching Dennis for bullying Mallory is treated as wrong on her part by her classmates, teacher, and parents, and she gets grounded for it despite believing Dennis deserved it, just like Arthur did in the show for punching D.W. after she broke his model airplane.
- Pitbull Dates Puppy: As of the end of the "Play-Date" Story Arc, D.W. and James are implied to have gone through a Relationship Upgrade (or as close to that as two kids can get). So we have a spunky Little Miss Snarker romantically involved with a Shrinking Violet.
- Portmanteau Couple Name: In-Universe; in the "Shipshape" strip, Arthur tries to come up with one for himself and Molly after learning that they have Shippers on Deck.
- Pun-Based Title: Several of the strip titles, in true Arthur fashion.
- Puppy Love: D.W. and James and, much more unexpectedly, Liam and Sarah and George and Ladonna, are all shown to have crushes on each other. Lucy is also shown to have a one-sided crush on Bud Compson, and Ryan has a crush on Mei Lin that may or may not be reciprocated.
- Relationship Upgrade:A Puppy Love variant happens between D.W. and James at the end of the "Play-Date" Story Arc; they have more-or-less confessed their feelings to each other and no longer have to hide them.
- Security Cling: In the "Out of Hand" strip, James apparently grabbed D.W.'s hands while they were watching a scary movie at the cinema. Not that she minds, of course...
- School Play: Played for Drama in the "Play-Date" Story Arc. D.W.'s school is holding a play of Sleeping Beauty with her rival Lisa playing the titular character and her crush James playing the prince, much to D.W.'s dismay. However, this turns out to be a misunderstanding, as the kid who auditioned for the role of the prince had terrible handwriting and a name similar to James', resulting in a case of Mistaken Identity.
- Sealed with a Kiss: The "Play-Date" Story Arc concludes with James kissing D.W. for the second time, James saying beforehand that they understand the significance of the act better now that they are a little older, and D.W. then telling Emily that James now knows how he feels about her.
- Ship Tease:
- This continues between D.W. and James from the original series, with it being all but explicitly stated that D.W. does have feelings for James. As of the end of the "Play-Date" Story Arc, while they still haven't directly admitted it to one another, it is implied they now understand exactly how they feel about one another.
- Arthur and Molly (who also happen to be the siblings of D.W. and James, respectively...) get some of this as well, though not as overly. In the "Shipshape" strip, Arthur tries to come up with an In-Universe Portmanteau Couple Name for the two of them after learning they have Shippers on Deck, and a much later strip has D.W. reveal Arthur's crush to Molly.
- Story Arc: While the comic is mostly a gag-per-day one, it does have a few of these, such as "Slumber Party Manic," "D.W.'s Big Hit," and "Play-Date."
- Time Skip: The comic takes place four years after Arthur.
- Took a Level in Kindness: D.W. is generally not as bratty at eight years old as she was as a four-year-old and gets along with Arthur much better, although she does display a few shades of being a Creepy Child.
- Unrequited Love: Lucy has a crush on Bud Compson, but he doesn't seem to return her feelings.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: Or rather, Unresolved Puppy Love Tension between D.W. and James. D.W. clearly has a crush on James, but it is unclear whether James reciprocates until the end of the "Play-Date" Story Arc.
- You Monster!: D.W. gets called a monster by Lisa in "Slumber Party Manic - Part 4." She says she prefers the term "humanity deficient".
