Reviews Webcomic / Homestuck

General Notes and Advice

So, Homestuck.

It's pretty complex, so I'll divide it up into a few sections.

Pacing - Now y'all have probably heard this before, but Homestuck starts out slower than just about anything else I've encountered. It's not until Act 3 or so that it settles into what the comic as a whole is like. Also, the comic is very slow moving, with many panels/conversations seemingly being completely irrelevant to the plot. That's just how it is.

Art - One thing that stands out immediately is that the art isn't any good. That part is intentional, and I think that one has to realize that the art in HS isn't mean to be good. It's just meant to give you an idea of what's happening while the text tells you exactly what's going on. It gets better during important scenes, but all in all it's not too important to the story. The text is.

Characters - One thing you may have noticed in other reviews is that there are a hell of a lot of characters. Specifically, 12 new ones show up when the trolls are introduced. Don't worry. Out of those 12 trolls, only Karkat, Terezi, and Vriska are important right off the bat. Kanaya and Gamzee become important later. So as a piece of advice, don't try to remember every little thing about the trolls (or other characters for that matter). The story is long enough that any characterization that is truly important will just kind of rub off as you read it.

Pesterlogs - These mammoth walls of text may seem pretty daunting. But every single conversation is important, so don't skip them. Otherwise you won't know who the characters are, and you won't know what's going on.

Music - Homestuck undoubtedly has the greatest music of any webcomic I've ever played. My personal favorite is Megalovania. Also, the music is synced nearly perfectly with the animated flashes, which are IMO the best part of the whole thing.

Miscellaneous - Homestuck has a really big and complicated story. However, once you get towards the middle/end, it all starts paying off. It may not be for you, but I think it's the greatest webcomic I've ever read. It's a true epic narrative, and it does the best job I've ever seen of making the story seem truly BIG, and really spelling out how important every decision or action is.

It's also pretty funny.

So yeah, it's really good, if you like that kind of thing. Otherwise, I guess don't bother.