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Such disturbing sea creatures.
By Benor | April 21, 2008
I think that Odd Fish has one of the most fitting titles I’ve seen in a webcomic. Not just for the fact that the characters are odd, but for the fact that the whole tone of the comic is gently surreal. You won’t get a lot of big laughs from it, unless you love puns (and the occasional pop culture or internet culture reference.) But it has some very interesting takes on sea life, which pop up more as the comic goes along.
The art is quite beautiful for Odd Fish. It’s all in black and white, which is a fine idea, because of the hand-drawn shading used for the comic. The creator also has a fine command of anatomy for sea creatures-usually the characters are presented with human traits (such as having a computer or being on a psychiatrist’s couch), but they are still accurate fish aside from this, as far as I can tell. The whole comic has a wonderful hand-drawn feel, and I really enjoy it.
There are only a few consistent characters right now. Howard, a puffer fish, feels like the straight man for the comic, as he consistently finds himself reacting to Lovecraft’s antics. Lovecraft is an octopus who indulges in some very strange behavior, but he’s not quite the typical “wacky” foil to Howard-some of his behavior seems like actual ignorance, rather than lack of forethought. This gives his actions a more innocent quality, so they’re not as grating as a deliberately “wacky” character’s would be. There are a few more named characters, such as Hugh Manatee, the unlucky sea mammal, but most of the action revolves around either Lovecraft or Howard, or both of them.
The writing for Odd Fish is all about humor, and it swings between really obvious fish puns, and more surreal and/or disturbing jokes, that aren’t as specific to the characters and their environment (such as the attack of the tiny zebras.) The puns just made me groan, though they were almost redeemed by the artwork for them. Other jokes, such as the “rescue” of a bagpipe and a misinterpretation of an appendectomy, were either disturbing or amusingly subtle. On the whole, I think the humor isn’t that great, but it stuck with me longer than I expected, and even the worst of the puns at least had some nice art to go with them.
So how is Odd Fish? To be honest, I think it’s a very subjective webcomic. If you’re not that interested in puns, or turned off by them, then Odd Fish is not for you-you might enjoy the art, but the humor will leave you cold. But if you can tolerate puns (or even enjoy them), then it’s a wonderful comic to look through. Personally, I tend towards disliking puns as humor, though I can stomach them, and I think that Odd Fish’s art made them much easier to stomach. It should also be noted that while the art can make the characters look warm and inviting, this is not really a comic for kids-there isn’t anything too violent or sexual (which I’m thankful for), but jokes like watching “prawnography” or Lovecraft’s apparent interest in tentacle hentai make me think it’s aimed at adults. I give Odd Fish 6 out of 10.
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