Webcomic A Great Webcomic Experience
As an aspiring webcomic artist myself Lackadaisy, throughout the entire time of reading it through, has become one of my favorite, if not THE favorite webcomic in any website, and in fact one of the most enjoyable pieces of fiction (which is not very common for the webcomics I read). In spite of using anthropomorphic cats, it is by no means any "traditional" furry fare, in fact it something all on its own. The expressions, movements and pacing of the characters matches well with the use of cats that would otherwise be less entertaining when using people, a rare feat in webcomics.
Ms. Butler managed to create a lavish, Roaring Twenties experience, complete with many intricate historical details in terms of clothing, laws and gangs involved, with using what can be considered a limited color palette. In my opinion, it is all for the better, as the art itself really has the essence of 1920s photography and/or film that helps the reader to become immersed into the world of Lackadaisy.
The characters themselves are as fun and intriguing as the artstyle itself. In my opinion, the artist manages to have great skill in fleshing out her characters over an extended period of time. Honestly when I first read the story, I thought Rocky was going to be a stock "CRAZEH GUY" that tends to get obnoxious over time, instead the way that the artists portrays his personality and quirks WITHOUT flanderizing it drastically and showing the consequences(to the point where he actually becomes seriously injured and not in a humorous way) is what keeps the character fresh and likeable. The artist also makes great work on deconstructing traditional "badass" roles (like with the case of Viktor, a seriously badass character... but due to a knee injury has trouble using stairs).
All in all, give it a try! I hope you'll enjoy as much as I had.
Webcomic My favorite webcomic ever
This is just a wonderful webcomic. The plot is driving, each and every one of the characters is unique and memorable, the history nerd in me adores the realistic portrayal of The Roaring Twenties, and the artwork is stunning, as I'm sure you've read elsewhere on this wiki. The updates are few and far between, but thankfully Tracy gives us filler strips to tide us over, and the pages are always worth the wait. I have no idea where the plot is going or who killed Amos or who Mitzi will end up with or what will happen now that Viktor's past is slowly coming to light, and I love it. This comic updating will always make my day. I'd definitely recommend it.
Webcomic The epitome of an exceptional webcomic.
Oh, where do I begin. Lackadaisy, by Tracy J. Butler, is by far one of the most amazingly intricate, most memorable, well drawn webcomic on the internet. There is absolutely no doubt about those.
Art: Stunningly professional-level (especially in color). Even from the first page, you can tell Tracy is a brilliant artist. It goes through Art Evolution too, not that it needed it. Rendering of backgrounds, characters and other things are all fantastically detailed and appealing, with no mistakes at all. This is expected, since each page takes many hours to complete, which is what explains its notorious slow update rate (approx. trimonthly), though several pages are posted at a time.
Characters: Each character has lived their own life in Tracy's head. Their actions and dialogue are true to their personalities. Each character is highly distinct, with their own charm and uniqueness, and there is a favourite character for everyone. The relationships are complicated and realistic. They each have their own origin and their own story to tell. Also, agreeing with ilikedinos 123's review, you'd think that Rocky is a generic wacky-type character who is nothing but a Butt Monkey. Oh, would you be wrong.
Story: I don't want to spoil, so I'll say that it's a serious, yet very entertaining, plot. Everything happens for a reason (not "just because") and leads to another thing. And there are damn hilarious moments. Sidecomics between updates too!
Misc: I suppose a main reason for why Lackadaisy isn't a webcomic empire (like Penny Arcade), though it's still very popular, with good reason, is simply because it's not for everyone (also the aforementioned update rate). There are undoubtedly those who call it "boring". While these people would be wrong, the dialogue can sometimes become tedious for impatient people, as well as the usage of 1920's language, hence the glossary. But then again, the fanbase ranges from young to old. And yes the cast are anthro cats. But not fetish-y furries, oh no. They're the charming, Disney kind of cats. With guns. It is also incredibly true to its setting of Prohibition 1927, due to the extensive amount of research Tracy did.
Highly recommended.
Webcomic Really Very Good
Lackadaisy is easily within the top 10% of webcomics, and frankly is pretty easily within the top 10% of that 10% too, there are few that can contend with it. It has incredible artwork, a good concept and fantastic writing, something that few others could unite to such a degree.
A simple glance at any page will show you just how special this whole thing looks, and this isn't a specially selected pretty page either, they're all like this. Yes cats. It nearly turned me off the idea when I first laid eye on it, but I've quickly come to the conclusion that it was a very smart move. It has non of the weirdly aggressive sexuality of a furry comic nor the hazy character design that can come with it. The themes of Lackadaisy, are very dark. Alcohol smuggling during prohibition, where nothing but violence and the most callous use of power could keep you at top. The world is brutal and the cats keep things just light enough to stop it digging it's own grave.
But it's just not the artwork that can be so readily be displayed. Take a look at this. In one page you can see the elegance and poise of the owner, the way the struggles are burdening her, but there's also a tangible hint that everything she shows to other people is a front and faint signs of manipulation. She clearly drives men crazy. And then with the roughed up cat we can see the verbosity, how he's trying to hard and is constantly worried that he can't fit in... and you can read and see all of this in one page. Every character has huge depth and there is real drive to continue with the story in the hope of seeing more and more character revealed.
Finally a word on the setting, the creator is a history buff and she's always leaving little comments about whether paper napkins are an anachronism of the setting or not (apparently it's contentious :D) and gives weight to have a 1920's piece not just because gangsters, but because someone loves everything about that period and spends time researching the type of radio they would listen to.
Unfortunately you can't have so much good for free without a downside, and it's the sparce update schedule, 2-4 a month. But when its finished this will be one of the greatest of comics period and it shouldn't be missed.
Webcomic Pilot cartoon: The Cat's Pyjamas!
I come to Lackadaisy in complete ignorance. I've never seen the webcomic (held in high regard by tropers), but I happened across a pilot episode for a prospective cartoon based on the series. And what a cartoon! A 20 minute odd, fully and professionally animated feature that looks like it could have come out of a mainstream studio.
Lackadaisy tells the story of feuding Prohibition era gangs, as represented by anthropomorphised cat people. I am tempted to compare it to the similarly aspirational web cartoon pilot for Hazbin Hotel. Of the two, Lackadaisy better appreciates its audience doesn't consist primarily of devoted fans who have digesting every last bit of fan art out of the project, and as such is a much more accessible bit of viewing. I can easily understand the relationships in Lackadaisy, what the problems are, where the story is going and why I should care.
The reason I compared it to Hazbin Hotel is that it also runs into a similar problems with its characters. In Hazbin Hotel, death seems cheap and easily avoidable, with everyone being too cocksure and quick to resort to comedy violence, undermining the stakes established within its demon world. Meanwhile, in Lackadaisy, three separate characters within the space of the pilot all go bug nuts insane during a firefight, and each have their moment of cackling and shooting and bombing like they haven't a care in the world. You get diminishing returns when too many of your characters act in the exact same manic and reckless manner. Is everyone going to act like this at some point?
The dialogue veers between an appropriate and fun pastiché of the Noir wise-guy speak, and being plain annoying. We get an opening monologue from a violin playing cat who waxes lyrical about the Mississippi, and it quickly becomes apparent he's never going to give us a break from the smug, wacky running commentary. I'd enjoy the cartoon more if his he just wasn't there. Everyone else is much more engaging!
This review so far reads pretty negatively, but to be clear, this wasn't a bad experience, and at 20 minutes long it's hardly a major time investment. I liked a lot of what Lackadaisy offers, I like the gangsters, the jazz, and the action sequences. I like even more what it promises. The greatest strength of the cartoon is making me want to go and read the comic. It introduces a World and a lore and a group of people I do want to know more about, and I would like to see a full syndicated series out of it.