Parson Gotti is a gamer, but not just any gamer. He's a mad, crazy gamer who's bested every strategy game the world seemingly has to offer. That's where Erfworld and Lord Stanley come in. Lord Stanley is in need of a great warlord to lead his armies to victory against Prince Ansom. Using a spell that cost a half million shmuckers, Lord Stanley and his Croackamancer, Wanda, summon Parson to lead their armies and win the final battle for Gobwin Knob.

In many ways Erfworld is brilliant, but too much about it is poorly executed, which was disappointing. It felt like little sections of the story were left stranded out on a desert island while the rest of the story sailed on by to continue on the next panel. There were times when there was no wording on a panel, setting up for comedic pause, and that worked out nicely. But other times the comic just seemed to become scatterbrained and disoriented. It's that unfortunate tendency that really cost Erfworld points. Other than that, the comic is a real nerdy joy and it's cute to boot. It's drawn in a very basic, yet fitting style, like a chibi, the sort of tiny, cute anime style. Well, whatever style it may be, it's adorable. Even when little demon-things are axing other spider-things in the head it's cute. I want to hug the little demon-things, which are called Marbits, with their little pointy ears and beady eyes. Sorry, my girliness spilled on the page. Some of the sound effect illustrations are hilarious, like the PLOT explosion as the hero is pulled into the game world. Or the ever-popular PWND as something gets knocked down. Oh, and I can't even get started on the secret nerd code woven into the dialog. There are just moments of silliness, and moments of hilarity, and sheer genius. The magic word for making something disappear is "Hoffa." Come on, how funny is that?!

This also happens to be my first foray into digital comics, from which I return unharmed and pretty satisfied. I couldn't tell you anything about the iPhone download, but if you're running the Android system Erfworld looks pretty damn good. With just a tap of the screen you go to the next page. You can zoom in if the text is too small, but I found that the sizing adjusted well enough. Another neat feature: if you hold your finger on the screen you'll bring up the option to scroll through the pages finding the page you want quickly instead of having to repeatedly tap to the next page. The first issue of Erfworld is free and all others cost a buck.

Overall, the comic was a healthy dose of nerdiness and fun. With some correction to the flow of the comic, I think Erfworld would be near perfect.

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