3 out of 5

For the secondish arc – I’m basing these groupings on the original trade collections – LFG remains equally impressive as – if not actually more impressive than – the first arc in terms of just how much is packed into the story, and the characters, and the art, without it directly reading or looking over-bearing.  It speaks to the entertaining nature of Sohmer’s writing that, if stopped and questioned, I’m hard-pressed to recall how we get from There to Here without flipping back through pages or slowing to connect the story dots, and yet, from page to page (or week to week or whatever if this was online, I suppose), I’m not bothered by a feeling of being lost.  There’s always a purpose in the moment that doesn’t feel just like a wave of hands and saying: bad guy!  fetch the sacred object!; reviewing the background motivations just adds support to that purpose.  Art-wise, DeSouza gets to show off a bit more with some 2/3rds page spreads; if there’s been any doubt as to whether or not his art holds up at full size, these bright and emotive panels put it to rest.

However, those positives being noted, this really feels like the team somewhat digging themselves out of their first story.  LFG started as a parody and went its own way, expanding in an impressive fashion.  Now we’re getting more comfortable with the characters and comedy, Richard showing a few more dimensions beyond evil, Cale the same except in relation to naivety, but Sohmer has to figure out the balance.  As such, we get maybe a few too many songs (I realize they’re a staple of the series, but it feels like a joke that the writer found very funny and then began to abuse) and the story somewhat bounces back and forth around a war, trying to put some pieces in place for an effective conclusion – which, I must add, has payoff for all those song parodies and the holding pattern of the writing, thus giving me the hope/sense that the plotting will continue to get smoothed out from here as the creators perhaps began to conceptualize just how big things could get.

The NPCs are interesting in how they wrap around the odds and ends of the story; starting way after the main narrative, it’s sometimes difficult to recall how they might fit in, but once you remember the character connection, they become fascinating world-building additions.  And of course, the Tiny Dick adventures are hilarious gag strips.

LFG arc two is just as entertaining as arc one, but story-wise it stalls a bit while the path is paved for the future.  True, the repetitive bits that trouble me here could exist in the many, many strips I’ve yet to read, but I have faith that the long-lasting nature of the comic means its continued to grow into the promise that’s apparent here, so I’m absolutely still on board.