Starslip is successful in combining regular servings of humour with a more dramatic underlying plot. Many webcomics try this, but few succeed. Straub has managed to make almost every page of the comic at least amusing enough to bring a smile to the reader's face, and yet it is also possible to take Memnon's quest for Jovia and other more dramatic elements of the comic seriously enough to truly care about them. This balancing act — making the work both silly enough to regularly laugh at, and serious enough to really care about — makes the comic very enjoyable.
The characters are unique and interesting, and like the comic as a whole, are both amusing, and still deep enough for the reader to become invested in them. There have been some quite well-written moments of character development, and even seemingly shallow characters will usually turn out to have something more to them as the story goes on. And of course, at the same time, they are all funny, silly space-people.
The comic's science fiction setting serves it well. It constantly parodies various sci-fi tropes, often quite hilariously, but is a clearly Affectionate Parody. Starslip knows how to use the trappings of sci-fi effectively in its storytelling.
Silly, yet worthy of investment
Starslip is successful in combining regular servings of humour with a more dramatic underlying plot. Many webcomics try this, but few succeed. Straub has managed to make almost every page of the comic at least amusing enough to bring a smile to the reader's face, and yet it is also possible to take Memnon's quest for Jovia and other more dramatic elements of the comic seriously enough to truly care about them. This balancing act — making the work both silly enough to regularly laugh at, and serious enough to really care about — makes the comic very enjoyable.
The characters are unique and interesting, and like the comic as a whole, are both amusing, and still deep enough for the reader to become invested in them. There have been some quite well-written moments of character development, and even seemingly shallow characters will usually turn out to have something more to them as the story goes on. And of course, at the same time, they are all funny, silly space-people.
The comic's science fiction setting serves it well. It constantly parodies various sci-fi tropes, often quite hilariously, but is a clearly Affectionate Parody. Starslip knows how to use the trappings of sci-fi effectively in its storytelling.
It is a webcomic well worth following.