http://www.drunkduck.com/Allan

It's good to see something for once that is good for being intentionally bad.
It's common across the internet but rarely ever done well, I can see Dan Paldin's had a strong influence throughout.

The writing, well not that great but has a certain charm, it does make you want to continue reading but is held back by other aspects of the strip.
The art is good for the foreground but some of the scenery is scribbly and hard to interpret, I know the art is meant to be bad but the scenery kills it by being half there, it's best to establish it or leave it altogether.
I think what kills a potentially great strip is the layout, I've read the strip before the page is loaded. Perhaps this is part of my bias towards webcomics in general as too many are set out like this, rather than a traditional comic page.
If it read across and you had more on a page, I think it would have more lasting power than it currently does.
The hand lettering is okay, some of it is hard to read because it's not spaced out enough and the letters need to be clearer.
Overall the site design is great, I think if some color was added to the strip itself it could give it something more.
As it stands, there is a lot of room for improvement, in itself it's not a bad comic.
It just lacks something that would make it great.

I love the look of Allen. Deceptively simple art. The creator definately knows how to draw as hinted at in odd moments throughout the strip. I think the art in great, and applaud the use of style.

The writing sometimes falls a little flat. I dig the intimacy of it, but I soetimes got the feeling I'd need to know the creator to truly appreciate the scenarios.

All that said though, I wouldn't suggest changing a thing. THe charm and honest of the work is refreshing, even if some of it misses the mark.

9 to art and a strong 7 for writing.

Later,
Chip

Artwork: The artwork is... quick. I love how you draw your people, but you need to take more time on your backgrounds (when there are backgrounds). Sometimes, they're just a bunch of sloppy scribbles. Just take your time; you look like you're in a rush (well, considering that you update every day).
3.5/5

Technical: I like it a lot. Unlike the usual left to right, it goes up to down. I also like how small it is. Very nice! The panels are wiggly and cool.
5/5

Writing: Well, it's an autobiography comic, so it's basically... about your life. Usually, people that read these kinds of comic would say 'I totally relate to that'. I (a teenage girl living in Jersey) cannot. That's not a bad thing, it's just the fact that it's not my type of comic. Which is okay. But getting to the real point of things, the humor is cute. Not LOL funny, but more of a 'heh' funny. Which is still good. It's... cute.
3/5

Well, it was kinda fun reading about what a teenage boy thinks.

Nice comic. Keep updating.
Screw math, I'm rounding.
4/5

ALLAN REVIEW
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First, stop calling it Allen, people... it's Allan! Well, with that said, let's continue...

Allan is a humorous autobiographical strip with daily updates, which is great. The layout is like the traditional japanese comic with the panels arranged in vertical, although Allan introduces more variation in it's number instead of the traditional 4 panels. Allan has a very personal loose drawing style and great funny writing.

As said, one of the strong points I find is it's style. Some people would think this is a lazy simple drawing, but in those few simple lines I see the hand of a great artist. You can immediately identify an Allan strip, this is something that's lacking in other comics you would say have better "art".

On the other hand there's the fact that it's autobiographical, this means that some people might not find themselves identified with the character (a teen college student) and stop reading as there's no story "per se" to follow but the author's life.

Now let's summarize Allan's PROS and CONS
---------------------------------
PROS:
- Daily updates.
- Great personal art style.
- Very funny writing.

CONS:
- Autobiographical (not really, but something has to go here...)

SCORE/FINAL WORDS
---------------------------------
4/5

I didn't give it a 5 because I think with time it will only get better, you can already see a great improvement since the comic's origin. I'm also looking forward to seeing a new comic from Allan (the author) in a full page format someday!

To finish, I'll just say Allan is one of my favorite strips on DrunkDuck and it's well worth a visit for anyone who likes to read a good comic!

Ah, Allan. This strip is huge on DD. I came across it my first day on here. It reminds me somewhat of another autobiographical webcomic I read called Normal Life by Natasha Allegri, although different owing to the different types of lives the two authors lead.

Art: The art and stylization are excellent. The way the author draws the figures is very creative. It's undoubtedly sketchy, but that only enhances the personal feeling of the strip. Although, when I look at pages like this one its obvious that the strip could look better with some time. However, it's still excellent as it is.

Writing: The writing is for the most part consists of random observations and thoughts. There's some that tell some little story that happened during that day. Others simply list the things the author did in a given day. There is a lot this strip has going for it in terms of writing: cuteness, charm, and ambiguity. I think the ambiguity is key. Example: what is this strip about? Well, nothing really. It's not trying to be funny, its not trying to be poignant, its not trying to be anything. The ambiguity makes the strip feel more honest and real, without agenda. It could get old, but the author throws in enough variety and humor to keep things oddly fascinating. This and those "aha!" moments of a personal connection were the pull of this strip for me.

Cons: For me at least, the lack of punchlines or drama started to make my interest wane after a while. Although this might be because I was reading so many in one sitting. Otherwise, I don't think the same would happen.

Art: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Overall: 4/5

Coming along like a kind of stick figure American Splendor, Allan is easy to get into and fun to keep up with. The strips are simple, rarely if ever diverging from a neat column of illustration and word balloons and narration.

I began reading it with the intention of sampling just enough to do a review, but found myself gladly clicking through each and every strip. The author (um, Allan,) has wisely decided not to make his strips too lengthy, which means they're just enough for a momentary daily distraction, and easy enough for him to do on a continuous basis. That's a win-win scenario, especially given the quality of the work he puts out.

Allan's life isn't overly fascinating, but neither is mine or most people's. He has a job, a girlfriend, some other friends, he watches TV... all of these mundane facts are presented in the strip in a pretty forthright manner with droll observations made that are either amusing, or at least apt.

Allan has found the exact right voice for what he is trying to accomplish. It won't knock you right out, especially not if you're into gorgeously detailed artwork, but it works, becuase it feels like his life is, like many peoples', best described in crude figures and in-the-moment observations. It's a good little slice-of-life that feels real, presumably because it is.

I give it an B+, with the belief that he can even step his game up to an A after a year or two more of continuous work and practise. Keep up the good work!

Alot of what I want to say is already here, and I tell him via PQ or AIM, but... Allan has a lot of charm for it. What it lacks in some areas, the charm it features is pulled to us the readers full force.

Being a teenage guy myself at one point, I can relate to some of the situations, thought-processes, etc. I love the strip for what it is. Yeah, it's autobiographical, but he doesn't tell you every little detail of a character, just so you can get the joke of everything. He draws it, it feels, at times, for me and you, but also for himself, and writes it well enough that we can pull something from the strip.

I'm sure everyone loves drama, but if you force drama in a strip that is based after a life that doesn't have some hardcore drama, it loses it's charm. I'm sure one day there will be some drama thrown in, but only cos Allan himself goes through it.

There are times that you can tell, no, f*ck it, you deep down in your soul know Allan can draw better than this, but again, he does it for fun.

Add that to the writing, the point in each strip, the musings of that train of thought, all add a simplistic charm that escapes even the most popular webcomics ranging to PvP all the way down to any comic here on the Duck.

It takes a lot for me to really read a comic and comment on it besides checking it everytime it updates. Allan Wood's ALLAN I give 4.5 stars out of 5.

Just wanted to thank you all for your honest opinions. I'm going to be working hard at improving "Allan" the best I can, and I hope in maybe a year or so it will be a whole lot better!

Thanks again!

I've really liked allen for quite a while. It is light, cute, funny and intresting. The art is easy to look at and it gets up dated often. Whats not to like?

Allen is a horrible comic. It's got bad art, barely legible text, so called "humor" and the comic has no theme what so ever. All of that's wrapped into one package in a dull comic called Allen. If you had a choice in watching paint dry or reading Allen I would choose to watch paint dry.

Walrus, after glancing at your staggering 1-page pokemon comic I suggest you think before you post. This is especially true when your comments are at best uninformed opinion without any suggestions or constructive criticism, and at worst libel.

Not that there's any real need for me to rebuke your comments when you can tell they hold no weight by the time the first comic loads.

Allen is a fine comic. The art style is perfect given the setting and theme -- it's supposed to be an autobiography and simple artwork naturally matches the high school journal feel to it. Definitely worth a look & read.

My high school years sucked way more though. I'm jealous.

Allen is a comic based on the creators real life and is very well done. The website has a clean non-standard Drunk Duck layout that is very functional. The artwork is crisp and as anyone reading it can tell, its very consistent and has genuinely improved a great deal from its start. As for the story/jokes, its usually well paced. Considering its a web comic, I'm not going to be as harsh as I would for something done by a proffesional. He reminds me a lot of early KC Green 's online work for whatever reason.

Its a guy doing something that he loves, how can you criticize that? I'm going to give it a 4/5 because its really well done. This is the standard that we should use to grade other web comics.

Allan is a unique strip in that the panels are vertical instead of your classic horizontal. It works well with the format of the computer.. so as that as you're scrolling down, you can your eyes go with the flow of the comic.

Brilliantly simple artwork, and a good laugh everytime! Not like a belly-aching, knee slapping, roll in the hay, EL-OH-EL laugh... but a nice chuckle to yourself sort of thing that you definately appreciate the humor everytime. Which is the type of humor I prefer rather than go for the easy joke.

I hope that last paragraph made sense.

My cons: although it is a small con and doesn't make me dislike the comic, is that it at times can be a little too wordy and not enough art to make up for the text. Other then that I think it's pretty great.

This has definately just made my favorites list, and I highly recommend everyone to check it out. So far, my favorite is Day 152. Every guy has had that awkward experience of buying condoms and it was amazing to read about it.

Allan really turns me on. Firstly the art is a huge boner in my trousers, it's like Pablo Picasso on cocaine. The lines are elegant and the small traces of coke on each page are a real charmer. What I particularly enjoy about Allan, is the expressions on the characters faces. They are all like "Woah man" and I'm like "Ha ha, so true.", I think that adds a lot of realism and insight into Allan's life, the expressions. Another thing I quite enjoy about the art is when Allan draws his girlfriend Jen, she's hot (I'd do her).

Another aspect of the Allan comic or comique if you will (sounds classier) is the fantastic writing. The way he writes things they are so elegant and sensual. Like this, my favourite line from day 125 "I think you should be a little more sensitive, seeing as how she's standing right there & doesn't want to see me be hit on by another girl who doesn't even stand a chance. So please, stop embarrassing yourself by coming on to me and just go". I think that line says it all folks, it's a true insight into the life of Allan and a real polisher for my writing stiff.

No one ever mentions Allan's fantastic authors notes. I mean when I read his notes It's like being stabbed in the face with genius. All he does is make witty observations and point out the subtle part of each strip that us simpletons could not possibly spot if our puny, insignificant non-Allan lives depended on it. So I give his author comments a 5.5/5 because quite frankly they are half the comic and really make it fun to read.

I can't believe no one is talking about his page design! I mean what Rob did with that page is simply magic, it really polishes my HTML stiff. Notice that when you're on the last or first page of the comic the navigation buttons become the background, I KNOW! When I first discovered that I was like "Dude, seriously Rob you're like HTML Jesus or something". Then me and Rob ate cupcakes...in my dreams. The colour scheme is great too, period pink and poo brown mix together perfectly on this page.

So over all I give Allan's comic "Allan - An Autobiography" 10/10 points for originality and sex appeal.

Muntron,
That was an, interesting, review. Certainly not very objective and most definitely biased. But interesting nevertheless.

Aw, here it goes:

Art: Minimal. The backgrounds are fun to look at, the characters are simple, and the text is large. Entertaining to read, which makes up for the lack of artwork. Actually, I like the minimalism because that means that it's highly unlikely that the art will outshine the story.

Story: Not much of one, really. It's an autobiography, so I suppose that can't really be helped...not much else to say...but, despite this, the strip is very entertaining because of the

WRITING!: This is the only really awesome part of the strip. Suspence, while not common, is effective when it is promonent. I love your word use and how blunt you can be when drawing things out only makes them less entertaining. The narraration is a nice addition, as are the metareferences (like Rob's constant complaint that he doesn't appear enough.) Not much else to say, consitering that doing an autobio comic doesn't allow for much writing.

Overall: 11/10, for being so totally awesome.

Plip plop. Here's my two cents;

Allan is an autobiography without the "auto" in front. That sounds too robotic for this. Allan is clearly, a living, breathing human being with human thoughts and human feelings. Robots: 0. Humans: 1.

I can really relate to "Allan", both the comic character and the real person; because the comic, well, IS the real person. It's that instant connection that makes these doodle-like squabbles taste so ap-PEAL-ling. (Banana joke)

In terms of translating daily thoughts onto paper, Allan's been blessed with a filter deficiency. Unlike myself, I can never translate my original observations into legible words. I'm always finding myself clipping and cutting things so they make a lot "more sense". But who can define "sense"? See, I'm doing it now. I was originally going to talk about how freaking hot I think Allen is, but that's not very professional.

All kidding aside, Allen's world somehow holds his raw, inseparable connection between artist and comic that is almost sacrosanct and untouchable. Honestly, 'da kid has a gift. I haven't related to a comic like this since.. well, never. Plus, Mista' Allan seems to be going through a lot of things I'm going through right now (minus a few anatomical differences *nudge nudge*) Plus, his life seems a lot more interesting than mine (despite what he may think).

Finally, Allan has mastered his craft in such away that it almost feels like his life is being put on display for our entertainment. For an Autobiographical comic, it's got this incredible sense of selflessness. He's always got this way of "talking" to his many readers without going into rants or rambles.

It's actually interesting.

Nicol3, it's kind of hard to explain how exactly your review made me feel, but let me phrase it this way: Home run.

Thank you guys for not letting this thread die. Every new review keeps me trucking in this direction I call forward, and I appreciate all the kind words and honest recommendations for what I should work on/do next.

Thank you all very much!

FOLLOW-UP!

In my original review I said:

sewerman
I give it an B+, with the belief that he can even step his game up to an A after a year or two more of continuous work and practise. Keep up the good work!

And keep up the good work he did, as he found new drama in his life. "The Truth" storyline ended up basically being exactly what I was forecasting when I told him he could get up to an A after a while, and indeed he did.

As unfortunate as the drama that has manifested in his life lately has been, he has made it into compelling material for his work.

Everything from day 203 onward gets an A and a thumbs up.

Allan; It was a pleasure to read this comic. Now for the reasons why.

The art style is simple as anyone could see, but what some people may fail to see, is that it works so damn well with everything. Line quality, web site design, and shades all work together on a very simple level without overcomplicating anything. Perfection. I really can't comment on the art much. All I can really say is don't be afraid to try new stuff in comics.

OVERALL ART:
4.5/5

The writing is that of a good autobiographical comic. Like Pekar before him, Allan has a way of making the mundane interesting which one would find to be harder than it seems. Allan has got some serious talent for story telling and if he can keep up, he'll be flying high. There's really not much else I can say for the writing, it's pretty much a well writen solid comic that has me coming back. Good job.

OVERALL WRITING:
4.5/5

ok I need to review some comics, and I've already read all these strips, so this should be easy.

Overview: Allan is autobiographical comic, about a teenager's life.

Art Style: The art style really great, for how simple it really is. While not technically great, the art has a nice niche in how simple it is. The author is basically adding good detail, to basically... a stick figure. The backgrounds are great. I even enjoy the dark shadowy back grounds. Another aspect I enjoy is when their is a colored strip. While this is rare, for I like the very simple colors. And shadows are implemented well with the colors. Ok lets put out my short list of grips about the art. While the "ball" for a hand is simple and easy to make, actually drawing fingers would help a little. Since many times there are drawings of you making the comic the fingers might help. Really that's all I can kinda grip about. Over all I really like how the simple art style.

8.5/10

Storyline: The storyline is over a teenager's (Allan's) life. He basically talks about everyday struggles teenagers have to go through. Girlfriends, homework, parents, etc. And the narrative combined short drawing of the scene gives the reader a good idea on whats going. It also gives the reader good way to associate with the problem at hand. Even on days where most people would just say, "my day was dull" the author seems to make the comic worth reading. Even if he did not do anything that day. And maybe I'm just biased, since I'm a teen and I have the same problems, but I enjoy all the stories. I guess the only problem here, is that not everyone might relate with a teens life. But those people should not read the comic then.

9/10

Dialogue: While this is probably the weakest spot, it still fares pretty well. The dialogue between people seems simple, but it's just how teenagers speak. We do not go on to big monologues at random times. Also there is quite a bit of humor in the dialogue, I guess that comes with being a teenager. And the dialogue is more complex, and sheds more information in the narrative part. Even though the dialogue is handwritten, it still looks great. I think there was just a few times, where I was not able to read a certain word. And really this area is lowered because compared to the other aspects, it looks a bit weak.

8.25/10

Other: The web page is very well designed. With a drawing of Allan in the background. The web page is simple, and does not clutter it with tons of links. Just a couple of simple ones. While this is a farely recent thing. The author has stop posting author's notes, in favor for people to go to hid homepage website. Also to get more people to go to the homepage website, updates on DrunkDuck are 3 days behind, but that does really effect much. Anyways, it's a bit of a shame that he is moving away from DrunkDuck, I guess if you're a hardcore fan of it you can just go to the homepage website.

Summary: Allan is a autobiographical comic with a simple, yet effective art style. Defiantly one of my favorite comics on the site. Again this is probably biased since I'm a teen, and I go through similar problems. Recommend read, for about anybody.

9/10

Allan is a slice of life comic, except its not about video games or Japan, which is a stretch for webcomics. I doubt if it works.

*rocks are thrown at zero after this comment*

Art Style: I gotta say, the art is on some parts but detailed on others, like the drawing of the brontosaurus on one strip. Everything is hand drawn, and doesn't appear to be copy-pasted so that makes me happy on one level. I also like how the people are drawn. In some webcomics, most characters have the same head shape or a general body shape so I like this. Although, I have to say that with the good artwork why is there so much blankspace? It irks me to no end. The later comics fix this sometimes but with so little going on in the comic, you figure that it wouldn't be so hard. When the backgrounds DO appear, they are quite nice, especially in the later comic.
8/10

Storyline: The story...is about life. Sometimes things happen and sometimes it doesn't, so the actual "story" can be interesting if ther's nothing going on in your life or if you enjoy having a mutual understanding iwht the author about certain issues or topics or if you like going "Oh yeaahhh, that happened to me". I suppose it depends on what you like. If you like an easygoing story, its fine. If it not your cup of tea, you pretty much won't like the comic. Unfortunately, it can be hard to be motivated to read the comic but there's no pressure really. You can pretty much pick up the comic and read randomly without being confused most of the time. Its a quick, easy read.
7/10

Dialogue: Its basic talking and narrating, so its nothing too difficult. Sometimes the text can be small and hard to read, which can be hard for those like me who wear glasses and must hold the laptop an inch away from your face.
7.5/10

Other: The webpage design is very nice and fits with the webcomic, so I really like it.
9/10

Summary: This webcomic is sort of like Seinfield. Its about nothing, really. Its day to day stories. Its human interest. There's no super powers or long epic quests or huge anime eyes but thats fine. However, if its not your thing, you should just skip it. But its a nice relaxing comic.

8/10 in general

At first I was like "he he this is cute" because I loved the way Allen was drawn and how he was just sorta stuck there in the margin watching me read. I read backwards at first then said "screw it" and started from comic 1. I read all the way up to The Truth and now I love it.
I know what it's like keeping a secret from everybody. No one knows I can draw and I'd feel weird if people I knew in real life knew that I was drawing pictures online. Although it's not 100% the same as my situation many parts did hit home for me.

The artwork is great because it fits with the style and it just feels right. Autobiographical comics are more personal, so a more personal way of drawing is in need for them. For this guy, the personal drawings are stick-men like figures. There's an understanding of the art form though. It's done very well for what it is. It's not hasty and sloppily thrown together.

Allen has real emotions in it. That may be from it's autobiographical roots though. Love is a complex thing that we must learn about when we're young and try to master when we're older. Allen may write well for a teenager because it's made by a teenager, but I don't know. I see good things coming from this kid in the future.

10 out of 10.

I don't know why I don't stop by Drunk Duck more often...

...when I do you guys show me nothing but love.

Thank you for the great reviews! Thank you for enjoying the comic! Some of the more recent strips might seem a little rushed, because me moving and starting school, but I am going to keep on trucking and hopefully you guys will keep on reading!

Allan is hard to review becuase it's an autobiography comic and sometimes, for some people, days go by with nothing happening. Still, pretty much check it out everytime I go on the internets and in my opinion, it's the best thing on Drunk Duck. (Well, it's not really on drunk duck anymore, but still!)

9/10 for making me happy and giving me something really good to read. :3

great comic simple but good line drawings which style is very yours.

mix feelings on the writing though some of the jokes are borderline funny while other jokes i can relate to/get it pretty quickly.

all in all i have to give this a 6/10 for a comic strip but a 8/10 as a great autobiography keep up the good work.