- If only they had checked the reviews on Travelocity.
Girls with Slingshots (Better known as GWS) is both written and drawn by the lovely Danielle Corsetto and first hit internet pipelines at the tail end of the September 2004 (the 29th to be exact!). The precursor to Girls with Slingshots (simply named “Hazelnuts”) was originally created while the young writer/artist was still attending high school.
Danielle continued her comic-ing throughout college; running a strip in her school newspaper about “slacker college kids” while she majored in goodness-only-knows (This author assumes it was most likely Journalism). Since her graduation this writer-gone-wild has enjoyed other ventures in the world of drawing comics including taking over “The New Adventures of Bat Boy” when it’s previous artist and writer Peter Bagge decided to retire.
Within the span of a few years Ms. Corsetto now updates the strip as her full time job and attends conventions across the United States. The comic now updates a whopping total of 5 days a week and somehow through its strange and wonderful blend of disgusting and bittersweet humor, manages to continue entertaining readers just as throughly as it did seven years ago.
But what is it about? GWS revolves around a large and delightfully humorous cast of characters, but the protagonist would undoubtedly be Hazel Tellington; a young redhead who has quickly learned after her graduation from college that English was probably not the best major to pursue. The story mainly follows the rambunctious young woman’s high-jinks as well as the drama surrounding the lives of her fellow cohorts: Jamie McJack: Short and cuddly breast best friend to Hazel; Jameson: the Barista who brews coffee at the cafe below Hazel’s apartment; Maureen: a cute gal blogger and vegetarian, and many many others.
The strips are short and are done in a style that is reminiscent of Sunday morning comics that you might have read as a child (or may not have, depending on your age), and are generally between 4-5 panels long. The overarching story is lovely and immersive, I myself managed to read through the entire archive in around three days during my spare time and I am continuing to check the site daily for new updates. I suppose it is certainly a point in the comics favor that I am still interested in reading it after 1147 installments.
Another brilliant point that I absolutely adore the artist for is the fact that all of her characters (down to a Hazel’s cactus McPedro) are entirely three-dimensional. Each persona is complete with wants, fears, idiosyncrasies, and ambitions. Even secondary characters are given a drive for acting in the ways that they do, which I find completely commendable. I must admit there are plenty of comics out there who have an active cast of less than five people, and even then some of the minor-major characters are never really built upon or give us any reason to care about them. So kudos to you Madame’ Corsetto. You have effectively knocked off my proverbial e-socks with your uncanny wit, and delicious storytelling.