''Erfworld'' was a story-driven fantasy/comedy

webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books. Webcomics can be co ...

and independently published

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

about a master

strategy game A strategy game or strategic game is a game (e.g. a board game) in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous, decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome. Almost all strategy games require internal decisio ...

r summoned into and stuck inside a

wargame A wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces in a realistic simulation of an armed conflict. Wargaming may be played for recreation, to train military officers in the art of strategic thinking, or to s ...

running from December 2006 to its abrupt cancellation in October 2019. It featured contemporary memes and pop culture references. ''Erfworld'' followed a

format, with a new page added with each update. The webcomic's distinctive visual style countered the theme of unending violence with an artistic sensibility (described by the creators as "cute") in which characters are drawn to look like dolls, or anime characters, or toys. Injuries draw no blood in Erfworld, and damage is cured overnight. Also, characters are unable to use profanity, and feel pain when hearing the word "die". ''Erfworld's'' plot, setting, and characters were released under a

Creative Commons Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organization and international network devoted to educational access and expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has release ...

Attribution, Noncommercial, ShareAlike license.

Books

* Book 1, ''The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' was written by

Rob Balder Robert T. Balder is a professional cartoonist and singer-songwriter. He graduated from Roanoke College with a major in English in 1993 and, after a variety of jobs, entered a seven-year career in IT, starting as a manager of database development ...

and illustrated by

Jamie Noguchi Jamie Noguchi is a Japanese/Chinese-American artist and webcomic author who currently publishes ''Yellow Peril'', an Asian-American office romance comedy webcomic,Brigid Alverson"The Kickstand: Celebrating Office Romance" ''Comic Book Resources'', ...

. * Book 2, ''Love is a Battlefield'' was written by Rob Balder and illustrated by Xin Ye. * Book 3, ''Hamsterdance versus the Charlie Foxtrot'' was written by Rob Balder and was illustrated by

David Hahn David Charles Hahn (October 30, 1976 – September 27, 2016), sometimes called the "Radioactive Boy Scout" or the "Nuclear Boy Scout", was an American nuclear radiation enthusiast who built a homemade neutron source at the age of seventeen. A ...

and Xin Ye, with colors and inks by Lauri Ahonen and Lillian Chen. * Book 4, ''Lies and Dolls'' was written by Rob Balder and illustrated by Xin Ye. * Book 5, ''Temple Tantrum'' was written by Rob Balder and illustrated by Xin Ye, Lillian Chen, Connor Cercone, and Rob Balder. Selections from the end of book 2 were animated, Ken-Burns-style, with voice-over work by

Arthur Chu Arthur Chu (born January 30, 1984) is an American columnist and former contestant on ''Jeopardy!'', a Television syndication, syndicated U.S. game show. Chu first became known for the unusual style of play he adopted during his eleven-game winni ...

Reception

''Erfworld'' was recognized as one of the top 10

graphic novels A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

of 2007 by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine and received positive reviews and promotion from webcomics authors, and ''Time'' author/journalist

Lev Grossman Lev Grossman (born June 26, 1969) is an American novelist and journalist who wrote ''The Magicians Trilogy'': '' The Magicians'' (2009), '' The Magician King'' (2011), and '' The Magician's Land'' (2014). He was the book critic and lead technolog ...

in his articles "Webcomics are the New Blogs" and "Erfworld: It's a Boopin' Good Webcomic!" The addition of ''Erfworld'' to GiantITP was noted in "First Watch", ''

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

'' magazine's monthly section on new developments in gaming and entertainment. Additionally, ''Erfworld'' was reviewed by Webcomic Overlook, receiving four stars out of five, and was profiled by

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

. Following on the success of the ''

Order of the Stick ''The Order of the Stick'' (''OOTS'') is a comedic webcomic that satirizes tabletop role-playing games and medieval fantasy. The comic is written and drawn by Rich Burlew, who illustrates the comic in a stick figure style. Taking place in a mag ...

'' Kickstarter project, in February 2012, author Rob Balder launched the Erfworld "Year of the Dwagon" Kickstarter, seeking funding for a motion comic project. The Kickstarter was extremely successful, resulting in funding of almost $85,000, making it the fourth-largest comics category Kickstarter project as of May 2012.

Synopsis

''Erfworld's'' premise is that Earth strategy gamer Parson Gotti is summoned as the "perfect warlord" into Erfworld where he is to serve as chief warlord to the side Gobwin Knob. Throughout the first book Parson orchestrated the defense of a city atop an extinct

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

. The second book focused mainly on how the relationships of supporting characters affected the way Parson conducted his campaign, and ended with Parson forcing an uneasy occupation of a previously neutral territory. In the third book the histories and characters of other sides were developed, Parson's occupation was defeated through the machinations of an enemy side, and Parson was imprisoned by a third party. In the fourth book Parson engaged in diplomacy to negotiate his own release and events spiraled out of control. The fifth book, left incomplete when Erfworld was discontinued, focused on a completely different side in another part of the setting, and did not address Parson's situation at all.

Publication

The webcomic's publication schedule was intermittent at times as it grappled with artist exits and delivery issues. Erfworld was an early pioneer in crowdfunding, featuring the Toolbox, a

Patreon Patreon (, ) is a membership platform that provides business tools for content creators to run a subscription service. It helps creators and artists earn a monthly income by providing rewards and perks to their subscribers. Patreon charges a co ...

-like funding mechanism that was created specifically for the comic and its site. In 2018 Erfworld attempted to use crowdsourced cryptocurrency mining as a funding source. In May 2019, Balder announced that the comic would switch to

3D modeling In 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling is the process of developing a mathematical coordinate-based representation of any surface of an object (inanimate or living) in three dimensions via specialized software by manipulating edges, vertices, an ...

: The stated goal of this change was to allow Rob himself to more easily create the images needed for the comic and hopefully return to a more rapid update schedule. In the same news post Rob explained that an undisclosed personal tragedy had occurred and, as a result, Erfworld would not be updating again "for the foreseeable future, possibly the rest of the year." This new event was dubbed Horrible Thing II. Nonetheless, updates did resume later in 2019. On October 11, 2019, the website's front page was replaced with an announcement, signed by Rob and Linda Balder, which announced the permanent end to Erfworld as a webcomic as a result of a string of personal tragedies. The Erfworld updates previously published remain available in a
online archive
All former functionality of the site was restricted to users with "heartstrings" badges. A few days later, the original copy of Book 1 was taken down from the GiantITP website. While the authors have not yet publicly explained the reason for the shutdown, it is thought to be due to the death of Andrew "Thor" Macht, son of Rob's wife.

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

Archives of past ''Erfworld'' comics
2000s webcomics Fantasy webcomics Fantasy parodies Parody webcomics Creative Commons-licensed comics 2006 webcomic debuts 2010s webcomics American comedy webcomics