Full Frontal Nerdity

Overall score:

By Aaron Williams

http://archive.gamespy.com/comics/nodwick/ffn/ffn.htm

One Sentence Synopsis: A humorous, and occasionally poignant, examination of the lives (if you can call it living) of three four nerds.

Art: Created by the same guy how brought us Nodwick, Full Frontal Nerdity uses an impeccable and traditional cartoon style. It doesn’t quite show the range of artistic ability in every strip like other comics. In fact, often it only depicts the three or four main characters around their gaming table, using the same positions and expression as in previous strips. However, there are subtle variations that show the versatility of Aaron Williams’s artistic abilities. The odd perspective here or the slight change of form there does a lot to make the artwork a little more substantial. Still the artwork in Full Frontal Nerdity passes the fine crystal goblet test; that is it is beautiful while being transparent if not entirely unnoticeable.

Story: There really isn’t much of a story to be told. Three long time friends get together every week to play Dungeons and Dragons or other appropriately nerdy games. They are later joined by a long-lost friend via a webcam. The occasional storyline focuses on attending gaming conventions. Overall, story has been sacrificed for the sake of short, episodic humor.

Humor: Here is where Full Frontal Nerdity shines. It is much funnier than its counterpart, Nodwick. It consistently delivers quick wit and mirth in only a couple of panels. It doesn’t take much for Aaron Williams to find the absurdity in dice-stacking nuances or power-gaming players. Gamers will quickly find the humor and even non-gamers should find many of the strips entertaining. There is the occasional strip that doesn’t quite find its footing, but fortunately these are rare.

Frequency: Full Frontal Nerdity only update once a week, which unfortunately nearly tosses it out of the competition. Most comic strips with a similar format update daily or close to daily.

Website/extras: Full Frontal Nerdity comes with a functional site, though it has a few bugs and it doesn’t always navigate well. It does belong to the same site as Nodwick and Aaron Williams personal blog. It actually a good site to visit if you have a little time to kill as random bits of entertainment often find their way onto the site.

Archives: Full Frontal Nerdity currently contains about 130 strips to read. Unfortunately, they are not well organized making it difficult to pick-up where you may have left off reading.

Content: PG for some mild language, violence, and innuendo.

Three Reasons to Read Full Frontal Nerdity:
1) You like gaming and nerd related humor.
2) You belong to a gaming group.
3) You like to mock those you believe are stranger than yourself while attending Gen Con.

Three Reasons Not to Read Full Frontal Nerdity:
1) You’ve grown tired of media depicting humorous banter between friends.
2) You’ve never heard of Dungeons and Dragons, 20-sided dice, or Gen Con.
3) You have an allergic reaction to nerds and nerdity.

Consensus: Full Frontal Nerdity excels as short comedic strip for the nerd in all of us. It provides s perfect bit of gamer-related wittiness for those who like to laugh at the foibles of gamers and maybe even their own idiosyncrasies. Yet, the slow frequency of the updates really hurts it. With few story threads to worry about, many readers may have no problem waiting several weeks before checking back (though the poor site navigation may discourage this). Still, solid artwork and good jokes will make the return trip worth it, and helps it stand out a little amongst the horde of gaming comedy.

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Written by 42 on October 07th, 2005